Here, the issues become more complicated for Western products. Whether this is really the case does not matter. The media know this. Compounding the issue is regional protectionism. How that reporter got into the pocket of that factory and how to get him or her out is the challenge of any PR firm or department.
Seasonal government campaigns to squelch paid-for advertorials show how widespread the problem is.
In the meantime, media vigilance is a sine qua non for any successful campaign. The points of convergence between China and the West, in the media sphere, are sometimes more than we like to admit. Mapping an effective strategy to derive information from and then use these points of convergence is a considerable challenge. This is the software problem I mentioned above. Sinopsis is a periodic compendium of observations about developments in China and the world by the founder and managing director of SinoFile Information Services, David M. Jacobson.