What is more, there is only so much the central government can do. Local government officials are responsible for supervising food safety within their administrative regions, but they face pressure to encourage business activity and bring in tax revenues. Many companies even invite local officials to become silent partners in their corporations in return for political protection. 

But Chinese bureaucrats are not solely to blame; many of the country's food safety problems can be traced back to the farm.

At issue is the Post’s China Watch publication, a print and online advertising supplement that purports to deliver the news about China. The site hosts numerous articles and feature pieces that portray the Chinese government—particularly its human rights record—in a glowing light.

It remains unclear also what this shake-up means for the delicate succession plans that have been laid for the rest of the country’s leadership. Mr Bo’s removal is one clear indication that the process is not entirely without turbulence. Should he be prosecuted, it would mark yet another sharp departure from tradition. Figures with family backgrounds like Mr Bo’s tend not to be treated that way; it would be the sign of a great rift at the highest level.

“For now, Bo Xilai has been hung on the rack,” the analyst said. “He has no power and no position.”

Wu Yidian Eden, a naturalized Singapore citizen, was planning to get married this month.

Wu Yidian Eden, a naturalized Singaporean citizen, was formally detained last week after several rounds of police questioning, according to a March 6 notice to her family issued by the police department in the Chinese city of Wuxi

Older generations do not dare look back, while our younger generations don’t have the remotest inkling of the Cultural Revolution. But can we truly forget it? At the very least, the Premier, in his final press conference at the “two meetings”, suggested that we do not have the right to forget.

Li, of Brookings, says he expects that the Communist Party will eventually announce an investigation and possibly charges against Bo. There is a chance that Bo could be removed from his position on the Politburo as well, Li says, something that hasn’t happened since former Shanghai Mayor Chen Liangyu was removed from office in 2006 and jailed for corruption. But Bo’s downfall is happening more suddenly, and under a more intense public spotlight. On Thursday after his removal was announced “Bo Xilai” become a top 10 trending term on Sina Weibo, a Chinese Twitter-like service. “China has change a lot in these six years and that gives a tremendous burden for the national leadership to tell people what really happening,” Li says. “If they give an interpretation that does not satisfy the public there could be strong reactions and it will only embarrass the top leadership.”

On February 2, 2011, President Obama called Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The two discussed counterterrorism cooperation and the battle against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. At the end of the call, according to a White House read-out, Obama “expressed concern” over the release of a man named Abdulelah Haider Shaye, whom Obama said “had been sentenced to five years in prison for his association with AQAP.” It turned out that Shaye had not yet been released at the time of the call, but Saleh did have a pardon for him prepared and was ready to sign it. It would not have been unusual for the White House to express concern about Yemen’s allowing AQAP suspects to go free. Suspicious prison breaks of Islamist militants in Yemen had been a regular occurrence over the past decade, and Saleh has been known to exploit the threat of terrorism to leverage counterterrorism dollars from the United States. But this case was different. Abdulelah Haider Shaye is not an Islamist militant or an Al Qaeda operative. He is a journalist.