Just wishful thinking that Japanese firms never let customers down

MORE COMPANIES HAVE said that they have used problematic aluminum products supplied by Kobe Steel, Japan’s third-largest steelmaker, which confessed last week to a decade-long data fabrication of some aluminum and copper products. Beijing News commented on Thursday:

Top automakers including Toyota and Nissan, defense contractors Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and even Japan’s bullet trains, may have used Kobe Steel’s problematic aluminum products.

Kobe Steel has attempted to convince customers that only some of its products were subject to data fabrication and these still meet safety standards.

Although no safety problems have been confirmed associated with the products in question, there are good reasons for concern.

It is just wishful thinking that Japanese manufacturers never let customers down or make mistakes.

This is the most recent in a series of scandals to hit Japanese manufacturers in recent years. Mitsubishi Motors was found fabricating the fuel consumption data for some of its models, Toshiba tampered with its profit reports and an apartment building of the country’s biggest developer Mitsui Fudosan started to tilt eight years after its completion in 2007.

To win back public trust Japanese companies must not try and make light of any flaws in their products. The muddle-through approach the scandal-hit companies have adopted risks being interpreted as haughty and does no good to the image of Japanese manufacturing.

The school, the first of its kind in Europe, is an epitome of the rising popularity of the Chinese language around the world. Mastering the Chinese language means advantages and opportunities in the job market and the business world, because the Chinese companies and projects related to China are on the rise around the world.

A recent survey by the British Council, the United Kingdom’s international organization for cultural relations and educational opportunities, shows Chinese has become the language that British parents want their children to learn most, and is considered “the most useful language for the future”.

Statistics from the American Councils for International Education show the number of students learning Chinese at primary and middle schools in the US doubled between 2009 and 2015.

And statistics show the number of primary and middle school students learning Chinese in France has quadrupled over the past 10 years.

It is estimated that the number of people learning Chinese around the world has increased to 100 million from 30 million in 2004.

Behind the growing popularity of Chinese language learning is the international community’s positive attitude toward China’s future development, as well as the people’s longing to learn about the Chinese civilization and culture.

With the rise of China’s international influence, the Chinese language will enter more classrooms in foreign countries, helping young people around the world better understand the country.