The emergence of China as an economic superpower

Last time I talked about the hype over the Olympic Village food menus serving all but Chinese food. Apparently, the New York Times reported that the US delegation  and Olympic Committee had already arranged with its sponsors to ship prepared food to the Village, beliving that the food there may not be safe, citing potential impact of veterinary drugs and insecticides on athletes. This sparked a series of fustrated responses by the Chinese side, eventually leading to all Olympians being banned from bringing any sort of food into the Village, with the exception of medications. A series of Chinese officials, ranging from those responsible for the Olympics to those reponsible for food safety, discredited the claims made by foreign press and the Americans, saying that such worries were unwarranted. A spokeswoman for the Games said that food safety had been monitored for three years prior to this summer's event, with supervision over the entire food supply chain that now produces food at a quality that exceeds international safety standards. Organizers now ban the US delegation from bringing food into the Village, stating that this rule complies with standard international practice to "protect sponsors' rights." Who knows, maybe Michael Phelps will smuggle in some bubble gum.