(outside viewpoint-CNN)

The Olympic flame is out, the smog is back, and traffic again clogs the roads.

So far, it's off to a rocky start.

China received widespread praise for organizing the games, which formally ended Wednesday with the Paralympics' closing ceremony.

Even before then, however, reality reasserted itself with the collapse earlier this month at an illegal mine waste dump that killed at least 259 people and forced the resignation of a provincial governor. Since then, a product safety scandal has roiled the nation, with contaminated milk powder causing the death of three infants and sickening more than 6,200 others.

Both crises point to underlying systemic weaknesses that the Olympics did little to eliminate, despite a massive effort to clean up Beijing's polluted air, boost security and ensure smooth logistics. China's mines remain the world's deadliest and creaky infrastructure a constant threat, while an overhaul of the product safety system has proved only partially effective.

A further post-Olympics worry is the state of the weakening economy, raising the prospect of unemployment and higher inflation in what remains a poor nation. Chinese shares fell Wednesday to a 22-month low and the communist leadership, ever mindful of threats to its authority, is on alert for possible unrest.

"The top priority will be responding to the grievances generated by economic problems," said Joseph Cheng, chairman of the Contemporary China Research Center at City University of Hong Kong.

"The broad direction of enhanced international status remains, but most people are more concerned with immediate problems," he said.

China's leaders appear bolstered by a wave of national pride, although questions linger over the prospects for social progress and whether the games will yield hoped for international prestige and acceptance.

The games' most tangible impact was the new subways and ultramodern venues built at a cost of more than $40 billion. That legacy will continue to provide an economic driver: Developers envision a major entertainment district rising around the Olympic basketball arena in the city's underdeveloped west, with shops, restaurants and apartments sprouting where temporary sports fields stand.

Yet the games were always about far more than stadiums and parks, embodying China's craving for acceptance and international respect. Some too saw them as a potential catalyst for political and social change, as a confident regime grows more accepting of criticism.

There's little sign of that happening, though. Authorities tightly controlled dissent during the games, refusing protest permits and deporting foreign pro-Tibet activists who staged brief demonstrations. Chinese press restrictions are as tight as ever, sensitive Internet sites remain blocked, and Web editors reportedly were told to delete worrisome comments about the state of the economy.

Liberalized rules for overseas media enacted for the Olympic period are to expire on October 17, the Foreign Ministry has said, posing the likelihood that restrictions on travel and reporting will be restored.

Following the games, authorities will continue stifling calls for greater political freedoms while seeking to fine-tune the government's ability to resolve conflicts and guide public opinion, said Andrew Nathan, a China expert who heads the political science department at New York's Columbia University.

"The regime has shown what it can accomplish and has gained both domestic legitimacy and international respect," Nathan said.

Officials have cast the games as a triumph for understanding between China and the outside world. Chinese are now "more relaxed about different opinions about their homeland," Fu Ying, China's ambassador to Britain, wrote in The Guardian newspaper this month.

Others have suggested the praise China won for hosting the games could allow it to begin abandoning a deep-seated national resentment against the West and Japan for past indignities.

"Having realized the 'dream of the century,' perhaps it is time to relegate the 'century of humiliation' to history where it belongs," commentator Hong Liang wrote in the official English-language China Daily newspaper.

With the games over, some of the pressure on China from overseas critics should subside, according to Cheng and others.

Yet, staging a successful Olympics has done little to improve China's political reputation in the long-run, according to Yan Xuetong, director of the Institute of International Studies at Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University

"This implies that the international political troubles our nation faces exceeds our ability to respond," Yan wrote in the Global Times, a tabloid published by the Communist Party's official People's Daily newspaper.

Citing continuing complaints over China's human rights record, treatment of minorities and control of the Internet, Yan said China's diplomatic and public relations efforts of recent years have largely failed.

     老实说，我倒不是一个喜欢对时政评头论足的人，但是这一次真是有点愤怒了。国内食品的掺假司空见惯，但三鹿的做法真是有点恶劣，整个一个吃祖宗饭断子孙路的做法。接下来是奶制品全行业的崩溃，真是无语了……

     怪不得奥运前夕美国人顾不得国人的面子要自带食品参加北京奥运，还没等国人的努力被自然的澄清，三鹿东窗事发，所有一切的努力全部白费，什么都不用说了。别人完全有理想对我们的食品品头论足、不信任、歧视……作为一个国人，感到悲哀！之后再去购物，真不知道该怎马安排自己的购物单？

     40年前，日本和我们一样也是一个生产劣质产品而闻名于世的国家，但不到10年日本人完全改变了这种形象，而对于食品，前些年发生在日本的一家糖果厂使用刚过期牛奶制造奶糖的时间，事情一经曝光，这家也算久负盛名的食品厂不消一日即可倒闭……对于日本国、日本人我从来并不感冒，但对于日本的这点精神，我觉得无论是国人还是世界都有必要去学学的。这是为什么别人可以以一弹丸之地，经济实力居于世界第二而鹤立于亚洲，或许这就是差别。不知道我们的企业是否真的能从这些事情中真的吸取教训，但这实际上是很真实也很现实的事实。

     对于中国今年无疑是多事之秋，本来以为上半年的所有灾难、不快会随着奥运、神七而灰飞烟灭，但结果事与愿违。或许三鹿事件只是历史长河的一个十分不起眼的一个小瑕疵，可是还是希望这件事能警醒中国的商人或者是那些所谓的企业家。负责任无疑是最重要的，对企业负责，对个人负责，对员工负责，对自己的上帝-消费者负责，对社会负责，对国家负责，对行业负责，对中国的经济、形象负责，对在中国的未来负责……“能力越大，责任越大”！而不是滥用能力而去获得其他的私利抑或权力、名利……

      原来想宝宝出来和国外品牌奶粉是市场竞争的结果，但现在或许这成了一种不得不的选择。中国奶粉的“大头娃娃”事件还言犹在耳，三鹿又继续在这方面续写了一笔。以前曝光还是地下品牌，现在是一个多年的名牌。心疼、心痛、心寒、心冷……

      让“三鹿”这个品牌永远消失吧！为了中国的奶制品行业，为了中国的行业道德，为了中国的下一代，为了后人和现在的观众可以警醒！

      深层次的问题，在此就不深入地谈了。面上的问题可能只是头痛医头，脚痛医脚；我们需要解决的还是系统的问题！