Rich touts the need for a Chinese Ralph Nader:

Now, before anyone bemoans the role that Ralph Nader played in Florida 8 years ago, the article China says dairy firm knew of toxic milk for months highlights the need in China for a consumer advocate who can catalyze and rehaul the way that product failures in China reported, managed, and prevented.

I posted on the tort litigation side of this on Monday following an interesting Christian Science Monitor article and posts by Tom Chow, Dan Harris and others.

I agree with Rich that the old school Nader would benefit any country by bringing consumer safety issues to the fore. However, without a robust tort system, I think this is somewhat of a pipe dream (that's probably not a politically correct term to use in China – my bad).

I don't think Nader would have been Nader, particularly in his fight against GM back in his salad days, if not for the specter of big ticket tort cases. Why was GM so worried about Nader and Unsafe at Any Speed? Not just the bad PR, but the possibility of shelling out big bucks in lawsuits.

Until we get a robust tort system here, whether or not it includes huge punitives or pain and suffering (h/t Tom), all those would-be Chinese Naders that I keep reading about (every time they get arrested) will be fighting a losing battle.