Bright Dairy retracts President Guo Benheng's remark that China's dairy standards are the worst in the world

After dairy expert Wang Dingmian's view that "China's dairy standards are the worst in the world" caused a huge uproar, Bright Dairy President Guo Benheng became the first entrepreneur representative to publicly support that view. However, no sooner had Guo spoken than Bright Dairy retracted it on his behalf; and Wang Dingmian himself also told reporters that he had recently come under pressure from all sides and "public relations" efforts. (Beijing Times, July 11)
"Our raw milk standards are almost the worst in the world," "what is produced from garbage is garbage," "national standards being too low also harms farmers," "you see the advertisements it makes show cattle and sheep when the grass bends in the wind, but in reality it is the source of sandstorms" - such remarks, powerful and penetrating, drew great attention. What is especially worth mentioning is that these remarks came from the mouth of Bright Dairy President Guo Benheng.
However, everything was full of strangeness and fog. Not long afterward, these remarks were retracted by Bright Dairy. The retraction was for no more than two reasons: first, Bright Dairy could not withstand the enormous pressure. "Public relations" from all sides made it unbearably annoyed; second, "kill a thousand enemies, lose eight hundred of your own." Although Guo Benheng's remarks were thoroughly satisfying, it must be made clear that Bright Dairy itself is a domestic dairy enterprise. Saying "our raw milk standards are almost the worst in the world" - was that not slapping itself in the face?
Normally, if remarks were to be retracted, Guo Benheng should have retracted them himself. As another "cannon" Wang Dingmian said, "Even if a clarification statement is issued, it should be released by Guo Benheng himself. It is neither fish nor fowl for the company to issue this statement on his behalf, and the explanation is not clear either." Yet Bright Dairy could hardly wait to overstep its role, which is truly thought-provoking. This signal seems to indicate that Bright Dairy has likewise failed to "rise above convention." It is unwilling and unable to change the current state of the dairy industry, and is powerless and unable to make a clean break with the "world's worst raw milk standards."
As everyone knows, the reason China's dairy standards are the lowest in the world, returning overnight to 25 years ago, is that they were hijacked by a handful of large enterprises. The fact that large enterprises can easily hijack the formulation of standards is enough to show the enormous power of a few dairy giants, and also reveals the weakness and powerlessness of the regulatory authorities. Guo Benheng, who originally had some courage and blood, also intended to break with garbage milk, yet before long even a lone hero like him was silenced. One asks, is there still hope for domestic milk?
Without a hero cutting off his own wrist, without scraping the bone to heal the wound, domestic milk cannot regain public trust. Bright Dairy's retraction of Guo Benheng's words has a striking symbolic significance. It not only means Bright Dairy's "surrender," but also shows the formidable strength of domestic dairy giants and the related power, which undoubtedly makes people feel sorrowful. And where will our domestic milk go from here?   (Source: Xinhua Net)