When Debrowski said, "Mattel takes full responsibility for these recalls and apologizes personally to you, the Chinese people, and all of our customers who received the toys,"

Mattel says that Thomas A. Debrowski, its ????utive vice president for worldwide operations, was in Beijing to repeat what the company had already said in Europe and the United States, that it was sorry for the recall of millions of toys, and that it was doing all it could to prevent further problems.

The Chinese press heard it differently. The state-run New China News Agency said Debrowski "apologized personally Friday to a senior Chinese official for the massive recall of Made-in-China toys due to design flaws committed by itself." Other media outlets said Debrowski apologized for harming the reputation of Chinese firms.

To an American ear, the news agency reports sounded as if Debrowski was making an apology for any blame placed on China.

In the United States, however, Mattel said in a statement that some reports of the meeting had been "mischaracterized."