I've written a blog on the Guardian's Comment is Free site about the stresses on the Communist Party leadership post- OIympics. As the concern surrounding the melamine-tainted milk powder spreads, and all domestically-produced dairy products are removed from shelves, the Communist Party now faces a major food safety scandal. The World Health Organisation is now asking what the central leadership knew and when. They want to know whether the delay in taking timely action was because of a cover-up or simply because of a failure of systems. Among people I've spoken to here, no one is surprised that the Central government knew that children were getting sick way back in July but did not issue a recall for the tainted milk powder until September, and people assume that the centre covered-up because of the Olympics. Anyway, here's the link to the piece I wrote for Comment is Free, complete with comments from several people who seem to believe that no one should raise questions about anything going on in China. Try telling that to the World Health Organisation. Try also telling that to the many Chinese who are desperate for a more responsible and responsive government:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/17/china.olympics2008