Illustration: Lu Ting/GT

Home is usually regarded as a synonym for relaxation, security and safety. However, what would happen if furniture in your home turned out to be potentially hazardous or fatal? Recently, IKEA recalled its popular MALM series of chests and dressers in North America due to serious tip-over hazards.

IKEA stated that any MALM furniture not attached to a wall should be kept away from children. North American customers who purchased the MALM are eligible for a free anchor kit. Customers can also apply for a refund if they bought it between 2002 and 2016.

According to international media reports, since 1989 IKEA's MALM and other editions of their dressers have caused at least six child deaths worldwide and injured many more. IKEA finally recalled over 29 million MALM chests and dressers in North America.

However, Chinese customers are not eligible for the same recall. IKEA flatly refused to stop selling the MALM and other dangerous home furnishings in China. According to a statement by IKEA China, MALM meets "China's quality and safety criteria," which as we all know are much lower than in North America or Europe.

The differences between how IKEA treats North American and Chinese customers is appallingly racist and nothing short of insulting. Despite the huge gap in quality and safety standards between the Chinese and Western governments, when it comes to human lives there should be no difference. Yes, there are "gray areas" in law, policy and regulation in China, but this is still an unacceptable reason for IKEA to shirk their responsibility of guaranteeing Chinese customer's safety, just so that they can save some money.

Many Chinese people seem to regard IKEA as a bastion of high-quality Scandinavian design made with care by quality-conscious Europeans. Since its arrival in China 15 years ago, the company has seen massive success, becoming the largest foreign commercial landowner in China. In fiscal 2012, turnover exceeded 5 billion yuan ($748 million) from 15 million customers attracted to its affordable particleboard furniture.

What most Chinese are unaware of, however, is that IKEA is a notorious cost-cutter. The Swedish furniture company was recently accused by the Ministers of the European Parliament of avoiding more than €1 billion in taxes between 2009 and 2014. IKEA is also known for its worldwide furniture recalls due to constant safety and design flaws. Just yesterday, July 6, IKEA recalled over 7,600 child safety gates in China alone. But child gates are much cheaper to ship back to Sweden than the large MALM chests are. For IKEA, the bottom line is apparently a higher priority than customer safety.

In my opinion, any foreign importer to China whose product has a known safety issue or defective design that can potentially endanger personal safety should not only be recalled but immediately banned from sale here. Relevant Chinese authorities should amend and ratify higher safety standards to prevent such incidents from happening again. If customers in the United States, Canada and Europe have the right to safety and quality, why shouldn't China?

Does IKEA regard us as a land of "newly rich peasants" where they can unload their recalled goods from other countries? It seems so.

Additionally, I would call on all Chinese IKEA customers to bring back any product they purchased in the past 15 years that has been recalled in other countries and demand a cash refund under threat of litigation. This would force IKEA to finally take corporate and social responsibility in China. For far too long that company has treated China as a cash cow. Now it's time to start treating us with consideration and respect or risk losing our confidence - and our money.

The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Global Times.