It is not a question of whether genetically?modified food is safe or not. Instead it is a question of whether the country's top agricultural authorities will be able to maintain their policies, and a question of whether the provincial agricultural bureau of Central China's Hubei province has turned a blind eye to the illegal commercial farming of genetically modified rice.

The Ministry of Agriculture has never granted a permit for the commercial planting of GM rice, although it issued a safety certificate for a type of GM rice in 2009. However, commercial farming of GM rice in Hubei was reported several years ago. It was reported that a professor, who is in charge of a project of research into GM rice, once said that GM rice seeds had been sold to local farmers.

Nevertheless, the local provincial agricultural authorities have denied there has ever been commercial planting of GM rice in the province. Even ranking officials from the Ministry of Agriculture have said in public that there has been no commercial planting of GM rice.

Yet China Central Television reported on Saturday that three of the five types of rice its reporters bought in a supermarket in Hubei were found to be GM rice when tested, and so were the rice seeds its reporters bought from a local seed company.

This flies in the face of assertions by officials from the local provincial agricultural bureau and from the Ministry of Agriculture. Those from the ministry may have been misled by reports from the Hubei provincial agricultural bureau, even though they should not have been so easily hoodwinked.

However, that the local officials in Hubei failed to identify any GM agricultural products in their testing of more than 1,000 agricultural samples including rice is beyond the bounds of reason.

It goes without saying the commercial planting and selling of GM rice not only violate State laws, they also infringe on people's right to know.

The Ministry of Agriculture and the Hubei local agricultural authorities owe the truth to residents in Hubei and people in other localities who have bought and consumed GM rice without knowing it.

A full investigation is needed to uncover the true picture, and those found responsible should be indicted for cheating the public and abuse of power.