No offense but Rainbow sandals are made in San Clemente California and are the best made sandals one can buy. Like no joke, they are as close to wearing a fully supported shoe as possible for a toe thong sandal. They will last like a high quality shoe, and far longer than the average tennis shoe or sneaker does now. I wore a pair daily for nearly ten years straight as my main shoes. Rainbow sandals have always been the educated consumer's go-to choice and are far cheaper than the junk most people buy ten times over in the same span of time.
It is not that Chinese friends are unable to make the exact same quality or better than Rainbow's. We are all the same humans. The only differences between all of us emerge from spurious nonsense of upper societal castes. Dichotomous logic implies idiocy or malevolence from both canaille or interlocutor. The Chinese are tooled to make the junk (mostly) companies and occasionally consumers-directly demand in any range of quality or compromise without concern about the ethics of the company or motivations of the individual. In other words, the Chinese do not judge you for being a stupid miser or unethical hack with your money; because the money for goods is the only relevant transaction. If you want to be exploited or buy disposable junk, those are your ethics and problem. Those that spin this narrative in a racist light are criminals. I'm just a redneck white boy from Alabama, so what do I know. Think for yourself. Do not follow the piper's music.