Wal-Mart's 13 stores in Chongqing have reopened after being shut for two weeks for selling regular pork labelled, and priced, as organic. This scandal just adds to the fundamental belief that all corporations - if not supervised and regulated properly - are inherently evil and will do whatever it takes to make an extra buck. Just witness the current 'Occupy Wall Street' protests for further evidence.
Wal-Mart Stores is certainly no stranger to legal wrangles. Throughout its 60-year history, the company has faced lawsuits in the US, mainly involving claims of labour and workplace violations, sexual discrimination and product liability.
Yet, I can't find a single instance where the world's largest retailer has intentionally cheated its American customers. Nor do I think it would ever dare to. After all, the US as a functioning democracy has a fair business environment and a legal system that comes down hard on unscrupulous business practices.
I am confident that if Wal-Mart were found to have intentionally labelled non-organic food as organic in the US, the company would have been quickly shut down with its CEO summoned to Washington to answer senators' questions in a Congressional hearing while also facing the possibility of a jail term. And, for sure, those who were directly involved would be put behind bars.
But, in China, it is a different story. This is not the first time Wal-Mart has cheated its customers here, nor was it an isolated or occasional aberration in an individual store that probably went unnoticed by its corporate management.
