FedEx will ruin its own reputation breaking the law

China Plus Published: 2019-09-03 23:53:27
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Note: The following article is taken from the Chinese-language "Commentaries on International Affairs."

It’s been reported that the U.S. shipping firm FedEx is under suspicion of illegally handling a parcel containing controlled knives being sent to Hong Kong. The items involved in this case have been temporarily detained by the Chinese authorities, and an investigation is under way.

[Photo: VCG]

[Photo: VCG]

This is yet another illegal act by FedEx. Only in June, the company was called out after shipping parcels containing guns sent from the United States, in contravention of Chinese laws and regulations.

According to those laws and regulations, express delivery enterprises must strictly follow the mail inspection protocol in receiving and sending parcels. They should not ship any items that are prohibited by law or any items that may cause major safety problems. FedEx has been operating in China for more than 30 years, and it should be aware that items including guns, ammunition and controlled knives are on the “forbidden to ship item list”. As a major U.S. express delivery company, FedEx has tampered with a number of items destined for Huawei, has been involved in illegally shipping guns into China from the United States, and is now suspected of illegally accepting packages with controlled knives destined for Hong Kong. This series of illegal acts are tantamount to destroying its own reputation in China and sabotaging its entire commercial credit worthiness.

In order to reveal the truth, protect consumers’ rights and interests, and optimize the business environment, the Chinese government opened an investigation into FedEx on June 1st. The investigating progress and updates have been announced to the public in a timely manner. FedEx, on the other hand, has also repeatedly claimed through public statements that it will fully cooperate with the investigation and fully abide by Chinese laws and regulations. However, even during the investigation, FedEx still broke the law. It is hard for consumers to trust a company like this. And the fact remains that FedEx has the lowest satisfaction rate in dealing with consumers’ complaints according to the monthly notice for July, issued by the State Post Office of China. 、

At present, the relevant Chinese departments have temporarily detained the controlled knives, and opened another investigation, with which FedEx is expected to cooperate.

China's express delivery market has great potential. Any foreign enterprises are welcome here, as long as they abide by the laws and comply with the regulations. No enterprise or individual in China has the right to be exempt from the law.

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LU Xiankun Professor LU Xiankun is Managing Director of LEDECO Geneva and Associate Partner of IDEAS Centre Geneva. He is Emeritus Professor of China Institute for WTO Studies of the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) and Wuhan University (WHU) of China and visiting professor or senior research fellow of some other universities and think tanks in China and Europe. He also sits in management of some international business associations and companies, including as Senior Vice President of Shenzhen UEB Technology LTD., a leading e-commerce company of China. Previously, Mr. LU was senior official of Chinese Ministry of Commerce and senior diplomat posted in Europe, including in Geneva as Counsellor and Head of Division of the Permanent Mission of China to the WTO and in Brussels as Commercial Secretary of the Permanent Mission of China to the EU. Benjamin Cavender Benjamin Cavender is a Shanghai based consultant with more than 11 years of experience helping companies understand consumer behavior and develop go to market strategies for China. He is a frequent speaker on economic and consumer trends in China and is often featured on CNBC, Bloomberg, and Channel News Asia. Sara Hsu Sara Hsu is an associate professor from the State University of New York at New Paltz. She is a regular commentator on Chinese economy. Xu Qinduo Xu Qinduo is CRI's former chief correspondent to Washington DC, the United States. He works as the producer, host and commentator for TODAY, a flagship talk show on current affairs. Mr. Xu contributes regularly to English-language newspapers including Shenzhen Daily and Global Times as well as Chinese-language radio and TV services. Lin Shaowen A radio person, Mr. Lin Shaowen is strongly interested in international relations and Chinese politics. As China is quite often misunderstood in the rest of the world, he feels the need to better present the true picture of the country, the policies and meanings. So he talks a lot and is often seen debating. Then friends find a critical Lin Shaowen criticizing and criticized. George N. Tzogopoulos Dr George N. Tzogopoulos is an expert in media and politics/international relations as well as Chinese affairs. He is Senior Research Fellow at the Centre International de Européenne (CIFE) and Visiting Lecturer at the European Institute affiliated with it and is teaching international relations at the Department of Law of the Democritus University of Thrace. George is the author of two books: US Foreign Policy in the European Media: Framing the Rise and Fall of Neoconservatism (IB TAURIS) and The Greek Crisis in the Media: Stereotyping in the International Press (Ashgate) as well as the founder of chinaandgreece.com, an institutional partner of CRI Greek. David Morris David Morris is the Pacific Islands Trade and Investment Commissioner in China, a former Australian diplomat and senior political adviser. Harvey Dzodin After a distinguished career in the US government and American media Dr. Harvey Dzodin is now a Beijing-based freelance columnist for several media outlets. While living in Beijing, he has published over 200 columns with an emphasis on arts, culture and the Belt & Road initiative. He is also a sought-after speaker and advisor in China and abroad. He currently serves as Nonresident Research Fellow of the think tank Center for China and Globalization and Senior Advisor of Tsinghua University National Image Research Center specializing in city branding. Dr. Dzodin was a political appointee of President Jimmy Carter and served as lawyer to a presidential commission. Upon the nomination of the White House and the US State Department he served at the United Nations Office in Vienna, Austria. He was Director and Vice President of the ABC Television in New York for more than two decades.