China defends toy industry with media tour

Chinese toy inspectors set fire to Elmo’s buggy white eyes, tugged on Dora the Explorer’s arms and scraped off paint from plastic pieces of a “Barbie hot tub party bus” kit in front of foreign journalists, in a bid to repair the damage caused by the worldwide toy recalls.

The toy testers in Guangzhou said the quality checks were a routine part of their efforts to make sure products were safe for children across the world.