China To Resume Tibet Talks Climate Comments Cause A Stir Milk Scandal Resurfaces An End To Lobbying? Google's Gamble Democratic Dispute Pollution Protest Tennis Triumph
Chinese Government figures show that high school enrollment in the Tibet Autonomous region hovers around 50% - and amongst ethnic Tibetans this figure is far lower.
This textbook is in Tibetan …and the Chinese authorities maintain that literacy in both Tibetan and Chinese has increased dramatically in recent years. But controversy also lingers over how much language policy in education affects children whose native language is Tibetan but who are taught through Chinese from an ever younger age.
This child’s textbook is in Mandarin Chinese…but many rural Tibetans and nomads often speak poor, if any, Chinese…meaning they lack one of the basic skills to find employment.
The 2008 toxic milk scandal was one of the worst food safety scandals in recent history. The chemical melamine, used in making plastics and fertilizers, had been added to watered-down milk, in order to raise protein levels and fool food safety inspectors.
The tainted milk powder was responsible for the deaths of at least six babies and caused illness in around 300,000 people.
It also caused a collapse in public confidence in food safety, brought the ever-sensitive topic of political corruption to the fore once more, as well as severely damaging the reputation of China's exports, with 11 countries stopping all imports of Chinese dairy produce.