SPUDS IN MOTION: Thanks to the local government's efforts, potatoes produced in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region have entered supermarkets in big cities (XINHUA)

Moral Crisis

A two-year-old girl was hit by one van and then another in Foshan, south China's Guangdong Province. In the next half an hour, 18 people passed by her, with no one bothering to offer help to the poor girl. Then an old garbage collector appeared who immediately moved the girl away from the street and shouted loudly for help.

Although heroes are sometimes wronged by those they offer to help and may face legal problems instead of being thanked, the proportion of 18:1 is still shocking. The local public's indifference to life challenges the bottom line of China's social moral standards. But, the arrival of the kind-hearted old woman tells us, despite the alarming number of 18 passers-by ignoring the badly-injured girl, there is still sympathy and love in society. Besides, we believe basic moral standards will always remain in the heart of the vast majority of people, with this old lady as a typical example.

Those 18 people' indifference to life is a shame to civilized society and also to Chinese civilization. Preventing moral degradation is an urgent task in today's Chinese society. Maybe we should turn to the law to rescue slipping moral standards.

People's Daily

Transnational's Monopoly

It is reported that the Nestle Company in Shuangcheng, a city in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province famous for its dairy industry, monopolies the city's milk production. Local cow raisers have all complained that the company has not paid the right price to them for many years.

Surprisingly, instead of correcting the company's illegal practices and protecting farmers' interests, the local department tries to prevent farmers selling milk to other milk companies in other places.

Around 2002, the local government singed an agreement with the company, saying no other dairy companies should be allowed to provide milk in this city and all local fresh milk should be sent to the company. Shuangcheng holds 2.99 percent of the company's shares, while the former county head was the company's board chairman. The company is a big tax contributor to the local government. This agreement actually hinders free market competition, and the farmers are totally entitled to file a lawsuit against the local government's illegal actions and demand compensation.

China's market-oriented reforms mean to separate the government's administration from the market. But, the local government in Shuangcheng has surprised society by holding the company's shares. This kind of cooperation maximized gains for the local government and a transnational company, but at the cost of farmers' interests and social justice.

The local government and the company must be held accountable for violating laws on free market competition and offer compensation to the farmers.

Beijing News

Agriculture Industrialization

The potato harvest in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region began in mid-September, but farmers found it difficult to sell as many potatoes as they grew. If potatoes remain unsold for a month, they will rot and cause huge losses to farmers. Local governments now have to rush to work out urgent measures to help the farmers.

What happened to the potatoes has also happened to other vegetables in other places. For Chinese farmers, low production and marketing are normally two major problems that they face. China's agricultural sector is now operating in a simple and primitive way. There might be kind of industrialization in agriculture, but it's all about planting, without systematic management of the whole industry. In most cases, when farmers can't manage to sell vegetables, they have to depend on local departments or the media to appeal for consumers to take the vegetables. Such a fragile industrial chain actually shows the low industrialization of China's agriculture.

It's hoped that farmers and local governments can learn from this potato sale crisis.

China National Radio

Tally-Free Games

It's a custom in every big comprehensive games to announce the gold medal tally and rankings. The Seventh Intercity Games, however, did not do so.

As an influential national comprehensive games, the intercity games attract great attention from China's athletes. On one hand, the medal tally can encourage athletes to work and compete harder; on the other hand, if athletes focus too much on medals and honor, they might employ irregular means to get onto the tally.

Given that most athletes attending the games are adolescents who are easily subject to the allurement of fame and money, the General Administration of Sports has decided not to follow the usual practice of announcing the gold medal tally and rankings. The games are expected to help young athletes improve their competition techniques and gain experience, and to the largest extent be relieved from the pressure of wining medals.

The practice shows the country's emphasis not only on sports techniques, but also on young athletes' correct outlook on reputation and winning. This will undoubtedly promote sound development of China's sports cause and help to make China a real sports giant.

Yunnan Daily