This just in! In a surprising move, U.S. toy manufacturer Mattel issued an extraordinary apology to China today, taking responsibility for recent toy recalls and admitting they were due to “design flaws”, not manufacturing flaws, an MSN article reports. Details can also be found in this ROB article.Chinese manufacturers that made the toys were not to blame for the massive recalls, a senior Mattel executive said during talks in Beijing.

“The vast majority of those products that were recalled were the result of a design flaw in Mattel’s design, not through a manufacturing flaw in China’s manufacturers,” Thomas Debrowski, Mattel’s executive vice-president for worldwide operations, said at a meeting in the office of Li Changjiang, chief of China’s product quality assurance agency.

“We understand and appreciate deeply the issues that this has caused for the reputation of Chinese manufacturers.”

I am sure anti-outsourcing propagandists are not happy with the news. The Mattel recalls brought all critics of China out of the wood-work under the guise of ‘protecting public safety’.

In other news, while the kids’ Toys giant is dealing with outstanding financial repercussions due to their massive toy recalls, Mattel is also suing porn star Terri Gibson, known to her fans as ‘China Barbie’ of ChinaBarbie.com. Mattel is suing Terri for infringing on their trademark ‘Barbie’. The Asia Times has the juice on the lawsuit, as well as the NY Post.