Time for a Chinese Mea Culpa?

According to several sources, the IOC has opened an investigation into the age of one of the Chinese gymnasts. I kind of doubt if anything will come of this, and I don't really care about the gymnastics competition. But, this is the appropriate time for someone in BOCOG or the Chinese government to issue a mea culpa so this thing is put to rest once and for all.

First, the young girl doesn't deserve to lose her medals, and neither does the Chinese team. If the age-fixing allegations are true, they were used by their coaches and sporting officials, and are too young to understand the repercussions. Second, someone highly positioned in the government or BOCOG (the organizing committee) should reprimand, or even dismiss the sporting and government officials responsible for the ostensibly faked passports.

The Olympic games have been a rousing success thus far, and China is safely ahead in the all-important (over here) gold medal count. Why let this stupid little controversy snowball into something bigger or sully the reputation of the games. Taking the people responsible (for the alleged cheating) to task would show that the highest levels of government had no connection to this matter (though their push for golds probably inspired the coaches and officials). This, I think, is the only surefire way to prevent any further loss of face from this embarrassing issue.

On an unrelated note, anyone interested in the recent events in the Caucasus or Russian relations in general should see Gorbachev's Op-Ed from the NYtimes.