Focus more on fundamentals

Comment on You Nuo's column "Don't rush to join the US rescue effort" (China Daily, Oct 6)

The precautionary principle should be applied, as in all ventures. Ventures based on greed, fear and ignorance will always result in outcomes such as the present financial crisis.

China should focus on strengthening its economic and social fundamentals, including the narrowing of income disparities between rural and urban people, improving the quality of life through food security and environment, and enhancing national productivity and quality through inculcation of civic and ethical values.

Concern

on China Daily website

Good for Beijing

Comment on "Cleaner fuel comes at a price in Beijing" (China Daily, Oct 8)

It's good to see the Beijing municipal authorities take measures to clean up Beijing's pollution because Beijing is one of the great cities of the world. So all measures must be taken to ensure it's a practice all year around and not just for a month in 2008.

Tang Man

on China Daily website

Compensate dead babies' families

My heart goes out to the bereaved families of those four infants whose lives have been snuffed out due to consumption of baby milk food laced with malamine , while parents believed that good baby milk food is the primary source of good health.

The concerned authorities should force the corporate companies to adequately compensate the parents of those four babies as it is the contaminated milk food that led to their untimely death, particularly when they were born under the family planning policy. Payment of such compensation in the form of financial assistance may be paid to the parents in a staggered manner every year during their life term.

R. Nambiar from India

via e-mail

Are other countries safe?

Let me comment on another issue relating to China food contamination. This is the recent milk, especially baby milk, contaminated with melamine. This chemical was put in the milk mostly by local milk concentration collection companies to boost the tested level of proteins, so the milk could be sold to milk companies in China.

The purpose was for the local company to make more money by being able to sell low protein milk that otherwise would not have been purchased by the major milk companies in China.

So far about 59,000 babies have been affected and some have died. Many officials and milk company leaders have resigned or been arrested.

Now that we have cast the blame, identified the problems and moved to correct the problems in China, what about all the other countries in the world? How many other countries have the same problem? Would you believe that China is the only place where this has happened?

I would ask what is being done to check melamine contamination in the rest of the world.

William Irion

via e-mail

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(China Daily 10/09/2008 page9)