Olympic Uniforms: An XXL Issue in America is S in China HONG KONG - The news that Chinese factories have made the ceremonial uniforms for the 2012 U.S. Olympic team, while creating a furor in the United States, was greeted with something of a shrug in Asia. "It's just part of globalization," Timothy Tsun Ting Fok, president of the Hong Kong Olympic Committee, told Rendezvous. Clothes are made in China, Vietnam, all over Asia. The limelight should be on the athletes now. This shouldn't be hijacked by politicians. A story in China Daily emphasized a tweeted comment from Nick Symmonds, the American 800-meter runner. "Our Ralph Lauren outfits for the Olympic opening ceremonies were made in China," he said. So, um, thanks China. With the "um," Mr. Symmonds was being a bit snarky or sarcastic, but China Daily, a government publication, took it as a genuine remark and said the athlete had "expressed his thanks to China." Mr. Symmonds later tweeted his appreciation of Ralph Lauren's pledge to make the 2014 U.S. Olympic team uniforms in the United States. China's uniforms, by the way, can be seen here and here. The Chinese team is outiftted by Li Ning, the eponymous apparel and footwear company founded by the former Olympic gymnast. Hong Kong's Olympic athletes are being dressed by Fila, one of the committee's official sponsors, but Mr. Fok was unsure where the uniforms were being made. Fila, originally an Italian company, now has South Korean owners. Mr. Fok leaves soon for the Summer Olympics, which open July 27. He said he is looking forward to a fitting in London for his official International Olympic Committee apparel, which is also being supplied by Ralph Lauren. Mr. Fok called the sponsorship "a lovely marriage." Ralph Lauren outfitted U.S. teams in the past two Olympics - Beijing in 2008 and Vancouver in 2010. All those uniforms were made abroad, but drew considerably less outcry than the recent made-in-China revelations. There is a U.S. election coming up, of course, which complicates things, and unemployment remains high. Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic majority leader, told reporters: "I think they should take all the uniforms, put them in a big pile and burn them and start all over again." In an interview on CNN, the New York designer Nanette Lepore said American manufacturers could certainly have made the Olympic apparel, noting there are "factories just dying for this kind of an opportunity." Ms. Lepore, who said she manufactures all her clothes in the United States, said producing clothes abroad is not much cheaper than making them at home. "Because we're representing America, this is an opportunity to show off our manufacturing skills," she said. It doesn't always have to be because it's cheaper. As my colleague Eric Wilson reported on the On the Runway blog, Ralph Lauren announced the 2014 uniforms will be made at home. A company statement said, in part: "Ralph Lauren promises to lead the conversation within our industry and our government to address the issue to increase manufacturing in the United States. The Chicago Tribune Olympic reporter Philip Hersh offered this comment: "Until the U.S. government starts providing funds for Olympic athletes, as every other government in the world does, Congress has no truck telling the U.S. Olympic Committee where to get its uniforms or where they should be made." Asked if Mr. Reid's combustible suggestion was practical, with just 10 days left before the opening ceremonies in London, Ms. Lepore said it would "actually be possible," but then added that it would be "absurd to try it." Ed Gillespie, a senior adviser to Mitt Romney, said Sunday that the presumptive Republican candidate "believes we shouldn't politicize the Olympics." Mr. Romney, in 1999, stepped in to take over the troubled 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Bloggers in recent days have been quick to note that torchbearers for the 2002 Games wore uniforms made in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, which had long been a pariah state due to its brutal military junta. The torch-relay clothing sponsor was Marker, a 60-year-old company based in California. A broad array of U.S. economic sanctions and a trading ban against Myanmar were established in 2008. Susan Bonfield, 57, a 2002 torchbearer from Washington, told The Guardian that she was shocked and angry when she saw the Myanmar origins of her uniform. "When I looked at the label for the uniform, I went nuts," Ms. Bonfield said. When you are sending work representing the U.S. to a military dictatorship, I have an issue with that. Do you have an issue with your country's Olympic uniforms being made abroad? If Team Great Britain was wearing outfits made in, say, France, would that be an issue for you? Were the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Ralph Lauren company simply being good stewards of the U.S.O.C. budget by offshoring the production of the uniforms? Or was it misguided penny-pinching that caused them to miss a patriotic opportunity?