A little history... and a screed.
After WWII, many European and American companies sourced goods made in Japan because labour was cheaper. Japanese goods had a terrible reputation as 'cheap' initially. Then came the turnaround and 'made in Japan' meant quality. It also meant rising costs.
So the companies went to Korea where labour was cheaper than Japan. The story repeats itself. Korean products developed a good reputation, and the prices rose. Korea learned a lot from the Japanese experience and made the turnaround faster.
Now it's China's turn in the barrel. From a maker of cheap, low-quality goods not very long ago, they are slowly emerging (in some fields) as the maker of respectable products (for a good inside view of some Chinese factories, watch Edward Burtynsky's syuperb documentary,
Manufactured Landscapes).
When American guitar makers turned to Japan, Japanese instruments weren't very collectible. When those makers went to Korea, Japanese instruments gained in collectibility and value. Now they are in China and Korean instruments are gaining respectability.
You have to wonder where the West will turn when China becomes as expensive to produce goods in as its former economic partners. Africa? And wil Chinese goods then gain perceived value when that happens? Probably some will.
China is different, however, than its predecessors. It is a Communist regime, and despite significant post-Mao reforms (mostly thanks to Deng Xiaoping), still a military dictatorship, slow to respond. The top-heavy hierarchy makes it more difficult and slower to change its market practices as it would in a more competitive society.
Chinese quality control is often sporadic - ukuleles may be well made, but who can forget the deaths of thousands of children from tainted milk? Or the tainted toothpaste scandal? Or the tainted food exports? Or the numerous recalls of toys and other products for safety or other hazards?
The issue of China's brutal treatment of Tibet continues to cloud relationships with China for many nations. For many Western consumers, Chinese human rights - especially with regard to Tibet - is a serious moral and ethical issue that affects their buying habits.
That being said, what are your choices? As a consumer, how far can you elect not to purchase goods made in China as a moral protest? In many situations you don't know the source because label laws don't tell you where all the components are from. China makes most of the world's Vitamin C. Can you tell that from the label on your daily vits?
Besides, in many cases there are no viable alternatives, or at least no economically feasible alternatives. As long as we look for prices as the prime factor in buying decisions, there are few alternatives.
The problem with all of this is not so much who is making a product, but more who
isn't. Whether it's made in Japan, Korean, China or Vietnam, it's not being made in the USA, Canada, Germany, the UK or some other Western nation and that means jobs. That's not China's fault - it's our own. We're the consumers.
We chose to make Wal-Mart the biggest company in the world.
We chose to buy the lowest priced knock-offs that resulted in local factories closing and an accelertaing shift to overseas production. China just supplied the goods - we did the rest.
So, yes, there are elements of Chinese production and quality control that bother me. But like most of us here, my options are limited and my income more so. Not buying Chinese-made ukuleles will perhaps give me a self-righteous sense of satisfaction, but it won't make a whit of difference to the Chinese economy. Nor will it help the Tibetans or improve human rights. I choose not to shop in Wal Mart, but end up buying the same goods in other big-box stores.
And in the end I'd probably not have gotten started on the uke without Chinese instruments. I would not have risked $1,000 or more for an American-made first instrument to see if I liked it. But I was willing to risk $250 for a Chinese-made Kala and that led me down this delightful path. Now I aspire for that $1,000+ uke (but probably still need to win a lottery to get it!).
In the end I suppose I am just another budget-conscious consumer.
So when I play my Chinese-made ukes, I content myself in remembering that China also gave us Lao Tzu, Li Bo, Han Fei Tzu, Sun Tzu, Wang Wei, Mencius, Confucius, Chuang Tzu, Han Shan and many other philosophers and poets. Perhaps there's a little of their spirit in the small instrument I hold, not just that of the mega-state.
