Looking at the changes that have quietly taken place in Chinese society this year, it is obvious that a transformation is gestating.

Watch: Vaccine scandal is latest in China’s history of subpar baby products

Substandard vaccines directly affect the health and safety of children. When a government cannot even guarantee children’s basic safety, public trust in government is an unaffordable luxury.

However, the Changsheng scandal made clear that more than five years of the most severe social controls could not even get a vaccine problem under control. The Chinese people, especially growing children, still live in an unsafe environment. So why do they need this unprecedented level of social regulation?

Public antipathy has grown more widespread. After similar scandals in the past, the far left in Chinese society would typically voice their unconditional support for the authorities. This time, most have maintained a rare silence, even if they have not directly criticised the government.

Secondly, the Chinese governance system has lost its ability to perceive and respond to social discontent. Individuals within the government, including high-ranking officials, are aware of the maladies afflicting society, of people’s discontent, and of the desperate need for a cure – to scrape the poison off the bone, so to speak.

But as an organisation, the government appears to have lost this sensitivity. It has become very slow to react to public dissatisfaction, much less respond effectively.

In game theory, this is explained by the “prisoner’s dilemma”, in which rational individuals who make decisions for their own benefit collectively lead to a poorer outcome for all, including themselves. And an organisation that allows this to happen will have failed as a system.

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After 40 years of economic reforms, Chinese society has amassed too many contradictions. Public dissatisfaction with the authorities is well known. Even the most desensitised person could feel it. Yet the government appears insensitive to it. Because the bureaucrats in the system don’t want to take responsibility, all they can do is push the responsibility to others. System-wide, inertia dominates.

If this inability to effectively respond to social grievances persists, the system will slowly lose all its vitality.

Thirdly, the economic impact of the trade war with the United States is likely to exacerbate the crisis in Chinese society.

So far, the tariffs imposed on Chinese goods have caused China’s stock and currency markets to fluctuate and public pessimism to spread. Even after the initial shock wears off, the tariffs’ impact on China’s employment, prices and financial system will be very real.

Depending on how the conflict develops, we may see large-scale business closures, a rise in unemployment and serious inflation. If the economy sinks into a recession, living standards may fall sharply.

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Things are different now. Many of those born in the 1970s and after have not gone through the poverty their forefathers experienced. If living standards fall sharply for them and their family because of the trade war, how will they adapt and will there be a chain reaction? Some scholars have warned that the trade war might trigger an eruption of public anger.

Chinese society is poised for change. For the authorities, 2018 will be a big test of their ability to govern. Whether they pass or fail, one thing is clear: an overall restlessness is appearing in society and people are crying out for changes to the system.

Without such changes, the government leadership will only be able to delay the outbreak of a crisis if they handle the situation well under the current constraints, or they will accelerate the transformation if they mishandle the situation.

Deng Yuwen is an independent political commentator and international relations scholar. This article is translated from Chinese