(Long post, but written in a short time, apologies for the mistakes)
Quite frankly I do not understand how a big complex such as design and
sustainability in China can be reduced to a language problem. As Tao
Huang was mentioning before people studied German modernism without
knowing a word in German, and I think this is an excellent argument.
Another argument is that, sadly, the design decisions in western
countries are eventuating in slave manufacturing work in China, and this
is a question of social sustainability. But I think the main problem may
come out if we see the question of sustainability from a perspective
that is reversing Glenn's topic about Chinese language. The problem, in
my opinion is not that we have to learn Chinese, but that we are forcing
Chinese people to learn our (not spoken, but symbolic) language. China
(1/5 of the world population) is developing according to a cultural
model imported by western countries. Such model is highly resource
intensive. It was sustainable for the planet when only western countries
(20% of the global population) was using 80% of the planet's resources,
but it cannot be sustainable if we (western people) suggest Chinese
people to live as we do!!! 
This raises some questions:
1) We should find solutions to reduce our environmental impact
drastically (according to Weterings and Opschoor the reduction should be
around 90%). It is our obligation to do so, because we are moving
manufacturing to China, but we are not yet moving enough knowledge for
Chinese industries to find their own solutions, consequently they are
working on a low-price-low-quality basis and with a political and
institutional infrastructure that is totally inadequate to the new
situation.
2) We should find a way to emphasise local solutions, which are
intrinsically more sustainable than imposed global solutions (I know
this is a generalisation, but it is often true), because it works on the
basis of a local demand, local knowledge, local production capabilities
and (often) local resources. Such solutions are sustainable not only
because the are (supposed to) use less resources, but also because, by
using local labour force, they help keeping the solidity of the local
economic pattern and social cohesion (think about the social damage
caused by low-salary labour forces concentrated in manufacturing
districts in China and other asian countries).
3) We should shift the focus from technological development to social
development. Designers, at present, are very attracted by the fantastic
perspectives new technologies are offering. IN fact technology is very
useful and it is common sense to suppose that technological advancements
will reduce the material intensity of our development model, but, in
fact this is not always the case. Jansen, long time ago, argued that
technology, itself is only able to reduce the environmental impact by a
small percentage, while social change is required to reach the levels of
environmental efficiency required in a sustainable perspective.
4) We, as designers, should change our way to think about industry and
users. We are working on a model based on the assumption that industry
will provide users with the right solutions. This implies that users are
quite passive (they can only choose between different products). In fact
users are not so stupid and passive, we can activate them and have much
more sustainable solutions, which, by the way, are also much more
individualised and in many cases are able to optimise resource use.
5)We should change the focus of the designer's activity, no longer
"products", but "solutions". This is not environmentalist's utopia. In
fact this may suggest business models that prove to be very successful
(think of IKEA, they activated their users, nothing to do with the
environment, true, but a very success story).
6) We, as designers, should start figuring out what western society will
live from, when manufacturing shifts to Asian countries. Production will
probably be globalised, but needs remain local. IN Europe, for instance,
there are macro social needs, such as ageing population, unemployment
and multiethnical mix, which are unsolved questions design has hardly
focus on (Papanek, 1985, Margolin 2002). If design for manufacturing
will shift to China, because of globalisation, design for those needs
will have to be here, in western countries. So, we may loose our jobs as
product designers, but we may still have a lot of possibilities to work
on different fronts.

Sorry to bring those arguments back to the debate in this list, they are
very old now, we have been discussing this for decades (look at the
dates on the reference), but ten years ago they were based on the
assumption that China's development could be a risk, nowadays we are
experiencing China's development with all its implications, and this is
just the beginning. SO I think it is still worth discussing this.
Finally, it becomes obvious from my arguments, that "environmental
Design" may be not enough for sustainability. If, with this term, we
refer to design activities that reduce the environmental impact of the
tons of products we use everyday (and they are multiplying, with Chinese
lifestyle shifting towards our material-intensive model) I would be not
too confident that environmental design could solve any of the big
environmental problems we are going to face. 
Cheers
Nicola

Sources
Jansen (1994). Towards a Sustainable Future, en Route with Technology.
The Environment, Towards a Sustainable Future. D. C. f. L.-t. E. Policy.
Dordrecht, Boston, London, Kuwler Academic Publisher.
Margolin, V. (2002). The Politics of the Artificial. Essays on Design
and Design Studies. Chicago and London, The University of Chicago Press.
Papanek, V. J. (1985). Design for the real world : human ecology and
social change. London, Thames and Hudson.
Weterings, R. A. P. M., Opschoor, J.B (1992). 'The Ecocapacity as a
Challenge to Technological Development', Advisory Council for Research
on Nature and Environment, Rijswijk.


Associate Professor Nicola Morelli, PhD
School of Architecture and Design, Aalborg University, Denmark
Web: www.aod.aau.dk/staff/nmor


-----Original Message-----
From: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and
related research in Design [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Tao Huang
Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 8:37 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: The Myth about Chinese Design

As a Mainland Chinese Industrial Designer studying for my degree in the
US, I've noticed that many designers around the world turn their
attention to China these days. But I have to point out that
manufacturing shifting to China does not necessarily means that design
is shifting as well. In most cases, China is only the MANUFACTURER, not
the designer. When Nike has Chinese factories made its shoes, it is Nike
in Portland making the design decisions, not the Chinese designers. As
Dr. Chiodo stated, there is little environmental concerns involved in
Chinese design process because there is no incentive for designers to do
so. But again, who is making the decision here? Probably not Chinese
designers but Western investment behind the manufacturing. I believe if
the consumers push hard enough, government will regulate the
environmental aspects of product design, like many European governments
started to do, and the wind will change all over the world. I think it's
unfair to blame it all on China, there is a much bigger picture that
encompasses design, economy, and politics. 
 
The price of design in China is sometimes as low as the quality of the
products, which the western designers can't accept. Just ask O'Connell
from Conran and Partners, UK, who has been working in Beijing since
2003. Quite frankly, I don't see why people should feel so threatened by
China if China continues to compete on a low technology, low labor cost,
and low design price/quality level.
 
Language should NOT be the major concern here. Design research, not like
other social science, relies heavily on visual communication instead of
written language. Besides, other than language, there are many cultural
differences. Many researchers study German modernism without
understanding German. English is the dominating language in research and
it won't change even when there are 6,000 product designers graduate
every year in China. After all, very few of these graduates will become
researchers.
 
China is producing for the world at the cost of its own environment and
sustainability, which is horrifying to me. That's why I'm working on
sustainable design and design education in China. The problem is ever
pressing.
 
First post on this list. Thanks.

Tao Huang
PhD student
Architecture + Design
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Homepage: http://filebox.vt.edu/users/taohuang/index.htm
Blog: http://spaces.msn.com/members/taohuang/