On the 17th of September, the Chinese government found a dangerous chemical (melamine) in the milk products. Factories of dairy products added this chemical to mislead quality tests and artificially increase the price of their milk. Resulting in thousands of ill babies and damaging the reputation of the Chinese economy. Sadly enough some people say this news was already discovered during the Olympics, but China didn’t want to broadcast bad publicity during this very important happening.
In my opinion, this has to do with the fact that the Chinese economy focuses on producing cheap mass products instead of creating new innovative quality goods. They try everything to cut down the costs so their goods are still cheap enough to be sold abroad. Also the greed of big companies that want to gain more profit is an important factor. The poor farmers aren’t assembled in unions nor do they have the influence to be heard by higher authorities.
For the future, I think this won’t happen anymore because I consider this as a failure/flaw of the control system that isn’t enough developed yet due to the fast growing economy. And to quote the Chinese premier Wen Jinbao: “As head of the government I feel deeply grieved. But the most important thing is to draw a lesson from it”. If you look back at our own economical history, the most important lessons are also learned after critical periods.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7635466.stm
Brecht Zegers
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