China - TCM Bad Medicine ?

When considering Chinese traditional medicine would you say that it "being among the quintessence and treasures of Chinese culture, represents many of her salient features and superiority" or that it "is not itself a science and has no experimental backup". Both these views have been quoted in the media recently in a renewed debate in China concerning the future direction the health care systems should take. That's not so unusual, but the fact that the debate has been sparked by a blog and internet based petition is a bit new.

The academic Zhang Gongyao was quoted as doubting the scientific basis of TCM diagnosis techniques and the fact that he posted such views on his blog and organised a 10,000 signature petition in his support seems to have provoked a strong defence of TCM from the Health Ministry more from the Asia Times...

This isn't the first time Zhang has challenged the rationality of tradition - previously attracting publicity for his views on the awkwardness of using the lunar calendar more from Danwei...