This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Asia from the KU Center for East Asian Studies.

Piracy is a booming industry here in China. Even the casual shopper will have no trouble locating pirated books or pirated CDs or pirated videos. And now: pirated drugs. Pirated male performance enhancement drugs, to be specific. A chemical company here in Shanghai has been manufacturing fake Viagra tablets. And the general manager of the firm was recently jailed…but not before he cleared 60,000 yuan -- over $8000 -- selling more than 14,000 of the phony impotency pills to clients both abroad and at home over the internet. In general it can be said that when it comes to pirated goods, sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. Which category did the faux Viagra fall into? Hard to say.

From the KU Center for East Asian Studies, I’m Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.