Correct on the Mk4 Golf. You can have forward facing city lights, but you still need amber side markers for USDOT.
The problem with the Passat and all of these aftermarket lights is that the lights are designed to be plug and play with US light coding. In order to change the coding to some other country, you need to do significant rewiring. The front turn signals and parking lights are PWM on a single filament bulb, so you can't just unhook it to kill the amber parking light, because you will lose your turn signal, too.
The best option, if you want to do it right, is to pony up the money to do it *right* with OE lights (front and rear) from China, recode the body control module for Chinese lighting, and add the necessary wiring that is missing from the US car.
If you venture into the aftermarket, you'll find yourself at the mercy of whatever the manufacturer did to make things plug and play (and you'll have to deal with the amber parking lights). Also, you're at the mercy of whatever part quality they specified (often low quality in order to keep prices down).
And sorry for the very long explanation of why you can't turn off the amber parking lights on these aftermarket lights.
