Chinese Premier Vows to Improve Ethics after Tainted Milk Scandal
Sep 29th, 2008 • Posted in: NewsAnalysts say latest adulteration incident symptomatic of more than just weak regulation; one observer says social norms must be altered
NEW YORK and BEIJING
China’s premier, reacting to a growing crisis over contaminated milk, last week vowed to “draw a lesson” from the incident and promote better business ethics.
The state-run China Daily newspaper quoted Chinese premier Wen Jiabao: “Only by combining such tangible things as technologies, products, and management with ideals, ethics, and responsibility can we build the DNA of our economy.”
Jiabao’s remarks, made at a United Nations function, came as the fallout from the tainted milk scandal spread, with tainted crackers uncovered in South Korea, two more illnesses reported in Hong Kong, a British grocery chain pulling Chinese products from store shelves, and widespread purging of Chinese products from stores in Japan, according to reports from CNN and MarketWatch.
The current scandal is traced back to adulteration of milk products with melamine, which is typically used in plastic and fertilizer production. It is believed that the melamine, which causes a chemical reaction that boosts the apparent protein level in liquid, was added to watered-down milk to fool quality checks. Roughly 54,000 babies reportedly have been sickened by contaminated milk powder.
An analysis from the Christian Science Monitor cites a variety of experts who say the scandal reveals more than just a regulatory problem.
“China has the problems of any transitional economy,” Yanzhong Huang, a global health expert at New Jersey’s Seton Hall University, told the Monitor. “But the deeper and more fundamental challenge China faces is a systematic lack of business ethics.”
“You cannot fully police the whole food chain,” added Dali Yang, a politics professor at the University of Chicago. “A lot depends on changes in social norms. People have to recognize that integrity does matter.”
Sources: CNN, Sep. 25 — China Daily, Sep. 25 — MarketWatch, Sep. 19 — Christian Science Monitor, Sep. 17.
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