Wal-Mart's 10 branches in Chongqing municipality have been ordered to pay fines totaling 2.69 million yuan ($422, 000) and suspend business for 15 days after being discovered selling ordinary pork as organic pork. Supermarkets that deceive customers should be punished, an article in xinhuanet.com says. Excerpts:

The continuous expansion of large domestic and foreign supermarkets, including those multinationals with a good reputation, has indeed brought convenience and real benefits to the public's daily life. However, it has also to some extent resulted in the selling of fake goods and severely harmed customers' interests through mistaken labeling. Take Wal-Mart for example. Since it entered Chongqing's market in 2006, it has received penalties 21 times, including nine this year, for selling expired and low-quality food and running sham promotions.

The only way to deal with unprincipled companies is heavy punishment under the law. This will make them fully aware of the severe consequences of losing credibility and breaking laws. This is why the action taken by the Chongqing administration for industry and commerce has won the wide praise of consumers and why Wal-Mart's China headquarters made a public apology.

The facts have proved that apart from Wal-Mart, many supermarkets in various cities have been punished for false labeling during the first half of this year. The problem is that the market watchdogs in these cities have failed to make public the penalty information, as was done in Chongqing, or to impose more severe punishments other than fines.

Hopefully this does not mean the channels of complaint are blocked or that there is negligence in the supervision department. Only if laws are strictly enforced will companies stop pursuing illegal profits and operate according to the law, and consumers' rights be effectively protected.

Help civil charity groups

"Uncle Kun", who has assisted poor students for more than 20 years in Dongguan, Guangdong province, was rejected by local civil authorities when he tried to register as a charity group in August. Fortunately, his team recently gained official approval. The authorities should make it more convenient for civil charity groups to help the needy, an article in the Southern Metropolis Daily says. Excerpts:

The reason Uncle Kun wants to build a team to assist education and hopes to gain legal status is that a charity organization can help the needy better than individuals.

However, such good intentions have met with harsh reality.

While the authorities impose strict thresholds on such organizations, official charity groups such as the Red Cross have time and again been hit by scandals. Consequently, after reading about Uncle Kun's story, people will naturally ask: Why don't the authorities supervise the Red Cross more strictly and make it more convenient for civil charity groups to help?

The hardship Uncle Kun's team has experienced is a microcosm of the difficulties that many non-governmental charity organizations have faced.

The authorities should encourage, rather than hinder, these civil charity groups to help others, while supervising the official and civil ones in an equally strict way.Thanks to media reports and official approval, Uncle Kun's team has finally won its due legal status. This should be the beginning of a story that sees the monopoly of official charities broken, which will help needy people get the help they deserve.

(China Daily 10/14/2011 page9)