With moldy bread and expired cakes, China's latest food safety scandal is far from it's most dire. What's shocked so many around the country, however, is who had given this food to whom: they were relief supplies distributed to the victims of Typhoon Rammasun, the most severe south China had seen for 41 years.
With no electricity or running water and many of their homes lost, this slight against some of the country's most vulnerable citizens did not go down well with netizens: "these victims of disaster have had their homes destroyed, everything of value lost… and yet [the government] still does this — if offends Heaven and reason!"
Hainan locals had this to say:
This is the food given to Wenchang in Hainan. Where did they find these, would you dare to eat them? The typhoon failed to kill us, but this bread might just do. Government corruption, government corruption, government corruption!
I'm too furious, is this an insult? It's heartbreaking.
The actions of the local government in Hainan, decried as "inhumane" by many, led one web user to observe: "You wouldn't even give these to a beggar on the street!" Another web users from Sichuan recalled that "during the [2008] earthquake it was also like this, it's a tradition."
Local residents also condemned CCTV for disseminating what they said were erroneous reports:
They say Haikou and Wenchang have already restored 80% of electricity and water supply, but we have no power or water, traffic is paralyzed, communications are down, the streets are piled up with trees, vehicles have no gas, and prices have been inflated. All communications are down in Wenchang and sea water has inundated everywhere.
Local authorities have since apologized for the quality of the provisions.
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