CEO commits suicide

[Mr. Dictator]

Link

BEIJING, China (AP) -- The head of a Chinese toy manufacturing company at the center of a huge U.S. recall has committed suicide, a state-run newspaper said Monday.

Zhang Shuhong, who ran the Lee Der Industrial, killed himself at a warehouse over the weekend, days after China announced it had temporarily banned exports by the company, the Southern Metropolis Daily said.

Lee Der made 967,000 toys recalled earlier this month by Mattel because they were made with paint found to have excessive amounts of lead. The plastic preschool toys, sold under the Fisher-Price brand in the U.S., included the popular Big Bird, Elmo, Dora and Diego characters.

The newspaper said that a supplier, Zhang's best friend, sold Lee Der fake paint that was used in the toys.

"The boss and the company were harmed by the paint supplier, the closest friend of our boss," a manager surnamed Liu was quoted as saying.

Liu said Zhang hung himself on Saturday, according to the report. It is common for disgraced officials to commit suicide in China.

A company official who answered the telephone at the Lee Der factory in the southern city of Foshan on Monday said he had not heard of the news. A man at Lee Der's main office in Hong Kong said the company was not accepting interviews and hung up.

The recall by El Segundo, California-based Mattel came just two months after RC2 Corp., a New York company, recalled 1.5 million Chinese-made wooden railroad toys and set parts from its Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway product line because of lead paint.

The maker, Hansheng Wood Products Factory, also was included in the export ban announced Thursday by the General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, one of China's quality watchdogs.

The administration also ordered both companies to evaluate and change their business practices.

Lead poisoning can cause vomiting, anemia and learning difficulties. In extreme cases, it can cause severe neurological damage and death.

The quality watchdog also said police were investigating two companies' use of "fake plastic pigment" but did not give any details. Such pigments are a type of industrial latex usually used to increase surface gloss and smoothness.

Chinese companies often have long supply chains, making it difficult to trace the exact origin of components, chemicals and food additives.

The toy recalls were among the largest in recent months involving Chinese products, which have come under fire for containing potentially dangerous high levels of chemicals and toxins.

Actually a pretty sad story.

 

[Ramius75]

ya, the CEO of Enron should commit suicide instead !!!

 

[aelf]

It's not anyone's fault that he commited scuicide.

 

[Mr. Dictator]

It's not anyone's fault that he commited scuicide.

*searches thread again*

where'd anyone say that?

 

[aelf]

*searches thread again*

where'd anyone say that?

How about 'CEO of Enron should commit scuicide instead'?

Somehow I smell an attempt at making a comparison that would generate sympathy for the Chinese and antipathy towards the American that is quite possibly motivated by the idea that this Chinese man died because Americans condemned him to death.

By the way, I'm Asian.

 

[Jawz II]

Also, youre kinda nuts.

 

[Ramius75]

How about 'CEO of Enron should commit scuicide instead'?

Somehow I smell an attempt at making a comparison that would generate sympathy for the Chinese and antipathy towards the American that is quite possibly motivated by the idea that this Chinese man died because Americans condemned him to death.

By the way, I'm Asian.

well, im speaking of old experience that in the past, CEO of failed companies do at the least have the dignity to kick themselves. But in the recent years. most CEOs are shamelessly misleading investors and dont even have the guts to finish themselves off.

 

[aelf]

Also, youre kinda nuts.

Did I kill or hurt anybody? I just said I smell an attempt.

well, im speaking of old experience that in the past, CEO of failed companies do at the least have the dignity to kick themselves. But in the recent years. most CEOs are shamelessly misleading investors and dont even have the guts to finish themselves off.

Why should anyone finish themselves off? Is that your idea of honour? What if a CEO repents but wants to continue working?

 

[Ramius75]

Why should anyone finish themselves off? Is that your idea of honour? What if a CEO repents but wants to continue working?

actually,that will be the right way, but the act of Enron CEOs are criminal. they did it on purpose.

 

[Jawz II]

Did I kill or hurt anybody? I just said I smell an attempt.





Why should anyone finish themselves off? Is that your idea of honour? What if a CEO repents but wants to continue working?

I didn't call you a violent homicidal maniac, that you have to earn.

 

[Mango]

actually,that will be the right way, but the act of Enron CEOs are criminal. they did it on purpose.

Yes I'm not sure where aelf gets off making that comment. If anything it should be a comparison that shows the Enron CEO, Jeffrey Skilling, being the one guilty of something worthy of death and that their fates should have been swapped. What Skilling did was the most severe of all white collar crimes. He will be in prison until the age of 75 unless he is let out on parole, but I'd favor a life sentence without the possibility of parole in cases such as this, as well as massive fines to his estate on top of any of the money he made.

In the case of the Chinese CEO, he was perhaps too trusting, but the guy who sold him the paint was his best friend. He was failed by his government's watchdogs, who should have tested the toys before exporting them, especially with the problems China has had recently with this sort of thing. How they didn't catch it is beyond me. I'd also say the culture is partially to blame for his death, because apparently suicide is sort of what they expect over there when these sort of things happen.

 

[aelf]

Yes I'm not sure where aelf gets off making that comment.

Once again, I said I suspected that. Does that make me some sort of a paranoid psycho? Sheesh.

In any case, you can't expect people to commit scuicide. Whether they do or not is their choice.

 

[Masquerouge]

Looks like some sort of purge is going on in corporate China.

 

[Mango]

Once again, I said I suspected that. Does that make me some sort of a paranoid psycho? Sheesh.

In any case, you can't expect people to commit scuicide. Whether they do or not is their choice.

You doubly implied that Ramius75 may have implied it was Americans who condemned him to death and that he may have been trying to pit the Chinese and Americans against each other in the process.

To be honest I think that does make you a bit of a paranoid psycho.

 

[aelf]

You doubly implied that Ramius75 may have implied it was Americans who condemned him to death and that he may have been trying to pit the Chinese and Americans against each other in the process.

To be honest I think that does make you a bit of a paranoid psycho.

Err... That would be a subtle and likely subconcious attempt. Few people engage in grandiose schemes of divide and conquer. As I live where Ramius does, I was just guessing the real meaning behind his words based on our cultural context.

So that doesn't make me a paranoid psycho, does it?

 

[Mango]

Err... That would be a subtle and likely subconcious attempt. Few people engage in grandiose schemes of divide and conquer. As I live where Ramius does, I was just guessing the real meaning behind his words based on our cultural context.

So that doesn't make me a paranoid psycho, does it?

I feel absolutely no antipathy towards him or anyone of any nationality for claiming that the Enron CEO should have committed suicide instead. If he was trying to imply that he picked a bad example, because rather than inspiring resentment, most Americans would just assume agree with him.

 

[Red Door]

So, was this "suicide" or suicide?

 

[Godwynn]

ya, the CEO of Enron should commit suicide instead !!!

He's already dead.

 

[aelf]

I feel absolutely no antipathy towards him or anyone of any nationality for claiming that the Enron CEO should have committed suicide instead. If he was trying to imply that he picked a bad example, because rather than inspiring resentment, most Americans would just assume agree with him.

I don't feel any antipathy either. I've just seen too many attempts at pushing the blame to someone else in the region, and these attempts can be very subtle. The lack of elaboration in the original statement didn't help.

 

[Ansar]

So, was this "suicide" or suicide?

Huh?

The guy must have been under a lot of pressure and not know how to have solved it.