The melamine scandal broke out later than it should have. Some heavy censorship in the wake of the colossal PR campaign for the Beijing Olympics kept the scandal under wraps. During those few crucial weeks, thousands of Chinese babies started to fall ill with kidney stones. A few died. The controversy became too hot to handle and too huge to contain when countries that imported the melamine-tainted Chinese milk started to confirm the contamination in their imports of milk and milk-related products from China.
Perhaps due to tremendous international pressure, as some countries are about to sue and collect for damages, China announced that ‘a little melamine is OK.’ This is an example of the thin dividing line between a country being either more careful or more careless. The statement does not sound apologetic in any way. At the very least, it sounds like a justification for condoning reckless and nefarious Chinese producers. The addition of melamine by Chinese milk producers into their milk and milk products to increase the apparent protein content in the milk is downright malicious, since the very obvious motives are profit and greed.
China is notorious for pollution. Its coal mines are infamous as much as its air pollution smoke. Cleaning the air in Beijing and thinning out the smog failed to meet the deadline in time for the opening of the Olympic Games. The United Nations has declared that 16 out of the 20 most polluted places on earth are found in China. According to a World Bank report, China has 20 of the world’s 30 most polluted cities. This year, the country has also surpassed the US as the world’s largest producer of greenhouse gases.
Justifications and censorship are not wise moves for China to cover up the stark reality. Irresponsibility is more than palpable with this country. No amount of propaganda can bring back the ever-dwindling trust. In fact, propaganda can be its own undoing.
More than further careless moves disguised as uninformed attempts at being underhandedly careful, what should happen is China cleaning. The mark “Made in China” has a long way to go in earning or gaining back public trust and confidence. Unabashedly low product prices and flooding of markets with volume loads of goods just won’t do the trick in dodging product inferiority and hazard.
Via TIME
Tags: Air pollution, Beijing Olympics, censorship, coal mines, Made in China, melamine scandal, Water Pollution