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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JustTradeEm who wrote (95186)	4/20/2003 10:00:41 AM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

That is just a speculation, it might be true, it might be not. But one thing for sure, up to now, there is NO known case for deliberate lying. The inaccuracy has not caused by deliberate cover-up, but by backward system, and lack of experience and necessary training. Let's be realistic. How much the US gov. spend in US census, millions of $? and still the undercount of minority is estimated anywhere bet. 2-5%. And keep in mind that China is developing country, and with very limited gov. revenue, and trained professionals. So the US should stop figure pointing, and do some real help in terms of financial or professional.

To: JustTradeEm who wrote (95186)	4/20/2003 10:13:52 AM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

>>The only reason China's government is beginning to come clean is world wide pressure.<< World-wise pressure?? Joke. The only reason for more accurate number is that Chinese gov., although a little late, realizes that how easy and fast SARS virus infects people within China and around the world, and how much damage it can do to economic development, so the gov. put it on the 1st priority, and also because now China has been starting to set up a reporting system!

To: JustTradeEm who wrote (95186)	4/20/2003 1:26:12 PM
From: Dennis O'Bell	Respond to of 281500

The only reason China's government is beginning to come clean is world wide pressure. I think the most plausible explanation is that they simply didn't realize the possible extent of the problem, coupled with the relative lack of government transparency compared to Western standards (all this idiotic censoring of the internet...) And even then, scandals in the past dozen years or so, such as the contaminated blood in France, British mad cow disease, etc, show that Western government officials cover things up too. The 2008 Beijing olympics are not that far off in a way and the government is making a considerable investment in the event, so I'm sure they're thinking of the enormous risk this kind of health issue could pose if something similar cropped up in the future. This is in addition to general risks to business that such things pose. In a sense this is an example of the benefits of capitalism, since the risks of lost money are always a strong motivation for governments to take action, a lot stronger than humanitarian issues, or "worldwide pressure".