IInvestigative journalism That’s unusual in China. The Communist Party loves stories that exaggerate the Party’s accomplishments. So readers are likely to read the newspaper run by the Party committee in China’s capital city. Beijing Newswas out of the norm. On July 2, the paper reported that edible oil was being transported by truck in containers also used to transport liquid fuel. To save costs, the paper said, the containers were being repurposed without being cleaned. In a country where people have long been concerned about food safety, the news was sensational. The paper even provided a video implicating the giant state-owned company Sinograin.
“A great nation is rising, but they can’t even guarantee the basic safety of cooking oil,” wrote one outraged user on the social media platform Weibo. Some netizens pointed out the contrast between the authorities’ tight control over speech and media and their seemingly lax approach to food. “If there’s something wrong with our food, it harms us. If there’s something wrong with movies and TV, it harms them,” one user said. Many shared links to comments Xi Jinping made in 2013, about a year after he came to power, in which he said, “If our party can rule China and not even guarantee food safety, and can’t do that for a long time, then the people will wonder whether we’re qualified to be rulers.”
