Between Cloud Nine and Human Abyss

Two big events dominated China this month. One is from the boundless cloud nine and the other is from the dark abyss of human nature. Both are very big events but one overwhelms the other depending on whether one is in the mainland China or in the overseas.

In mainland, it is the spacewalk by the Chinese Astronaut. Overseas, it is the continuous saga of the melamine-tainted milk formula scandal.

The contaminated milk scandal brings the whole country from post-Olympic euphoria to confront with the everyday reality of food and product safety woes. Everyone in mainland and Hong Kong I spoke to has their concern of Chinese food safety, some of which are quite incredible (such as fake chicken eggs - I think the technology and the cost involved in producing fake eggs cannot make the venture profitable).

No question the government is trying to contain the contaminated milk scandal by making arrest and sacking as well as beefing up better enforcement and etc. The reality on the ground is that the mainland parents (if they could afford it) are switching to imported baby formula. Otherwise, the mothers of young infants are beginning to look at breast-feeding themselves or hiring wet nurse as the surrogates.

At the same time, large number of Chinese are ditching local dairy products. Foreign countries as far as in Africa are banning Chinese-made dairy products. Product recall continues unabated with more and more product are found to have used the Chinese-sourced melamine tainted milk as ingredient. Listed dairy company like the largest Chinese dairy company, Mengniu, saw more than 70% drop in share price at one point.

The criticisms, as seen from the online community and the press in mainland, on this scandal are all tuned towards the dairy farmers, the milk-collector middleman as well as the dairy companies and local government officers for failing to observe high standard of food safety. Lack of regulation and enforcement are obvious. The commentators have chosen the erosion of morality and greediness as the main reasons.

My own observation is that many Chinese have taken the famous Deng's adage "getting rich is glorious" to heart without regards of its legality and moral propriety. It is a phenomena that started since the launch of Deng's reform in 1979. I am inclined to believe that large number of mainland Chinese no longer subscribed to the Confucian notion of 君子取财有道 (gentlemen appropriate wealth with propriety).

What accompanies the Deng's reform is not just the wealth creation but also many officers corruptions that often go unpunished that in turn have failed to provide a strong deterrent against corrupt practice. At the same time, the government's credibility in instilling the peoples of moral values and social mores are often disregarded or ignored as mere party propaganda. When enforcement and education fail, the civil consciousness among the peoples degenerated.

Over in Hong Kong, the commentators are more critical. Protected by the one-country two systems, they blame the mainland political system as the root of the constant food and product safety woes. Hong Kong has experienced many bouts of food safety woes in the recent years as she relies on mainland for food supply..

The finger points to the lack of a free press and the absence of the rule of law. At all level of the mainland administration, it is always the rule of the party that supercedes the rule of law. There was a theory that the cover up of the scandal was done in the party and therefore the nation interest by the local party officers who wrongly or rightly believed that the cover up just before the Olympic game was appropriate.

In the last two weeks leading to the spacewalk, I observe that the mainland press and media have found it more newsworthy to give overwhelming coverage to the historic Chinese Astronaut spacewalking rather than continuous follow up on the tainted milk scandal.

For the moment, national pride matters more than concerns for health and life. Never mind that the first human's spacewalking was some 40 years ago.

The problems that plague China today is not just that the media is cowed or the enforcement is dodgy. The problem is the loss of faith in the society that is likely to lead to a loss of confidence in the state aka the party.

The solution is more than about beefing up the pride of the people by showing off their nation's prowess in sports or in space. The solution is also more than better regulation and enforcement on food or product safety. The solution is also more than mere moral education.

For all these to be the solution, the primary solution lies in answering the fundamental question of whether the CCP is for China or China is for the CCP.