Purge

In the long standing tradition of Stalinism China is looking to blame local officials, Beijing vows to punish polluters, for the recent toxic spill and explosion at the gas plant that has now polluted two major cities. Toxic slick hits another major Chinese city But how do you punish capitalism? Since China's problems are all related to her growing market economy, that still relies on the party cornyism of Stalinism and its lack of regulation of the market. Ironic that. The Chinese state capitalists share something in common with the American Free Marketers. Like Bush they refuse to accept Kyoto or their responsibility for the environmental damage their rush towards industrialized Fordist production brings.

The vice-mayor of the Chinese city where a chemical blast polluted a major river last month has been found dead.

Three weeks on from the accident, China's leaders are finally scrambling to assign blame, says a BBC correspondent in Beijing, Louisa Lim.

The saga has already led to two resignations - the head of the environmental watchdog and the boss of the petrochemical company in charge of the plant which exploded.

The government has set up a team to find out who was responsible for the explosion. It warned that anyone who failed to co-operate would be punished.

Government leaders are increasingly stressing the need for local officials to be seen to be accountable, and more transparent.

But our correspondent says that the terms of the investigation refer only to the immediate explosion, not to any ensuing cover-up, and therefore might not be enough to assuage public anger.