"Root Causes" of China's Problems

This article (link requires subscription) by Emily Parker in the Wall Street Journal is a good read on the topic of quality in China. I started a post earlier arguing that China is a good example of how Christopher Hitchens's theory of religion falls short - that in their race for the yuan, the Chinese would sell their soul, and yours too, to the highest bidder. I didn't post it because I lack sufficient knowledge of the industrial revolution in the US to make distinctions (i.e. to refute the argument that China is just experiencing growing pains), and I don't think or write well enough to launch a convincing argument against Christopher Hitchens (I recall the 11th Commandment: know thy limitations).

Ms. Parker's article raises the argument that there may be some moral lapses in China not found in countries with a Christian base:

"What is clear from all these safety scandals is that something is seriously wrong, and Beijing's doling out punishments is not going to fix it. Even assuming that the central government has good intentions, it might still be powerless to rein in shady local officials or individual businesses. The larger problem is that in a country without a real rule of law, where everything is subject to Communist Party "interpretation," there is no codified set of ethics to guide national behavior. A political system without popular elections or an effective system of checks and balances has helped create a culture in which the Chinese are not accountable to each other."

If you can get your hands on the article, read it.