China sentences two to death over tainted milk

[ray245]

SHIJIAZHUANG, China (Reuters) – A Chinese court on Thursday sentenced two men to death for their role in a tainted milk scandal that killed at least six children, while the woman most widely blamed for the tragedy got life in jail.

Nearly 300,000 children fell ill last year after drinking milk intentionally laced with melamine, a toxic industrial compound that can give a fake positive on some nutrition tests.

The closely watched trial of middlemen and executives from the Sanlu Group, a now bankrupt firm that had failed to report cases of infants getting sick from drinking its products, wrapped up just before the most important holiday in China.

The Lunar New Year is traditionally a time for families to reunite and Beijing may have hoped the sentences would deflect public outrage about the deadly impact of the tainted milk during the festive period.

Affected parents had focused their anger on Sanlu's former general manager, Tian Wenhua, and were angry she was given a life sentence and would not face execution.

"She should have been shot," said Zheng Shuzhen, a 48-year-old who said her granddaughter died in June of kidney failure after drinking Sanlu milk formula but was not included in the list of victims.

"So many children died but they kept the official number down so that she could get life (in jail), not death," she added.

Tian had pleaded guilty to charges of producing and selling fake or substandard products, which state media said did not carry a death sentence. Besides the life sentence, she was fined 24.5 million yuan ($3.6 million).

Melamine is more commonly used in making plastics chairs, countertops, flame retardants and even concrete, and causes health problems included kidney stones when consumed by children.

POLITICAL VOLATILITY

Claims of official concealment and indifference have turned the milk powder case into a volatile political issue for the ruling Communist Party, which is wary of protest.

Police detained two parents to stop them attending the trial of the dairy executives, one father and fellow activists said on Wednesday.

On Thursday, police guarded the courthouse at Shijiazhuang, a gritty industrial city south of Beijing, nudging people away but avoiding harsh confrontation. The session to announce the verdicts and sentences was closed to the public but a court official gave details to reporters outside.

One of the men sentenced to death was Zhang Yujun, who had made and sold over 600 tonnes of "protein powder" laced with melamine between October 2007 and August 2008, the official China Daily quoted prosecutors saying earlier this month.

The powder was bought by middlemen who added it to pooled, watered-down milk from farmers that was then sold on to Sanlu. One of these men was also given the death sentence.

A third man was handed down a suspended death sentence, which usually means life in prison on good behavior.

The court had announced it would sentence 21 defendants implicated in the scandal on Thursday afternoon. However, it said shortly before the court opened that nine of them would be sentenced at other courts.

(Writing by Chris Buckley and Emma Graham-Harrison; Editing by Nick Macfie and Dean Yates)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090122/wl_ ... a_melamine

[Zixinus]

Not to sound like Internet Toughguy, but if I understand this correctly, these people got what they deserved. They poisoned over thousands of children by ignorance and sheer greed.

[Solauren]

Internet Tough guy is generally going 'oh yeah, get them, harder!' type stuff, not agreeing with a legally reached and applied/to be applied punishment/sentencing.

And I agree, selling toxic products as safe food items should be a capital crime. That's tantamount to pre-meditate mass murder.

[Coyote]

I wish, sometimes, a little of that swift justice could be brought over to the US... but then, it's not so much the FDA's fault that Bush gutted them in an effort to make it easier for business to profit. Because that's what it's all about.

The FDA is down to, what, 12 inspectors, now, for the whole country + imports, or something? Eh.

But as for China, this is going to be an uneasy time for the government. They're also unpopular because of shoddy construction in those schools that collapsed during last year's earthquake... their well-managed Olympics may have bouyed them for a bit but as the afterglow fades and people still don't have their children (from collapsed schools or tainted milk) there could be some distinctly unhappy people. The economy of China is slowing, too, and as families get together for New Years and compare notes about how bad things are getting, moods will become more sour...

[K. A. Pital]

Well, neglience which leads to mass death should have appropriate punishment. I don't see much else here. And yes, volatility is not good so the CPC should ensure the order in society by punishing the guilty in high-profile corruption and neglience cases like this one. Especially considering popular outrage.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Well, neglience which leads to mass death should have appropriate punishment. I don't see much else here. And yes, volatility is not good so the CPC should ensure the order in society by punishing the guilty in high-profile corruption and neglience cases like this one. Especially considering popular outrage.

The funny thing was they ignored the popular outrage for as long as they could until the milk leaked to the West, quite literally.

A corrupt food inspection agency, deliberate attempts at cover up, and bribes to be paid. A perfect storm that took over a year to settle.

[ray245]

Well, neglience which leads to mass death should have appropriate punishment. I don't see much else here. And yes, volatility is not good so the CPC should ensure the order in society by punishing the guilty in high-profile corruption and neglience cases like this one. Especially considering popular outrage.

The funny thing was they ignored the popular outrage for as long as they could until the milk leaked to the West, quite literally.

A corrupt food inspection agency, deliberate attempts at cover up, and bribes to be paid. A perfect storm that took over a year to settle.

I won't be surprised if their logic is we would lose face if we have announce it to the public. That is is better to cover it up, quietly take down those tainted milk from the food selves, and let it be a conspiracy theory and no one will be angry with us in the first place.

[Big Orange]

Good, if only Western corporations were subjected to similar ruthless standards and punishments. It was a mistake of the American legal system to grant virtual personhood to companies.

[Bilbo]

Can someone who knows more about this case explain why the woman was not given the death penalty?

[Admiral Valdemar]

I wish, sometimes, a little of that swift justice could be brought over to the US... but then, it's not so much the FDA's fault that Bush gutted them in an effort to make it easier for business to profit. Because that's what it's all about.

The FDA is down to, what, 12 inspectors, now, for the whole country + imports, or something? Eh.

But as for China, this is going to be an uneasy time for the government. They're also unpopular because of shoddy construction in those schools that collapsed during last year's earthquake... their well-managed Olympics may have bouyed them for a bit but as the afterglow fades and people still don't have their children (from collapsed schools or tainted milk) there could be some distinctly unhappy people. The economy of China is slowing, too, and as families get together for New Years and compare notes about how bad things are getting, moods will become more sour...

That's not much different to the UK. The MHRA doesn't have hundreds of inspectors, and we know the majority of them by first name terms where I work. They have to keep busy, though, given the number of sites for medical research and manufacturing of pharmaceuticals etc. here. As with food, which DEFRA deals with here, you need stringent, constant checks to keep to these guidelines, and China is only just getting there (India has tried and failed to get into the OECD programme for Good Laboratory Practice and I'm unsure about how they fare when it comes to things like dairy products in their own country).

We had these issues with rapid industrialisation in the West, and not all that long ago too. It's to be expected that Chindia will experience what we went through and learn from their mistakes, rather than from ours. The FDA really did put an end to all of this, and that was only really in the latter half of the 20th century.

[General Zod]

Can someone who knows more about this case explain why the woman was not given the death penalty?

Without more to go on I'd hazard a guess that she made some sort of plea bargain to get life in exchange for selling out the others involved as being likely. This is pure speculation of course.

[ray245]

I wish, sometimes, a little of that swift justice could be brought over to the US... but then, it's not so much the FDA's fault that Bush gutted them in an effort to make it easier for business to profit. Because that's what it's all about.

The FDA is down to, what, 12 inspectors, now, for the whole country + imports, or something? Eh.

But as for China, this is going to be an uneasy time for the government. They're also unpopular because of shoddy construction in those schools that collapsed during last year's earthquake... their well-managed Olympics may have bouyed them for a bit but as the afterglow fades and people still don't have their children (from collapsed schools or tainted milk) there could be some distinctly unhappy people. The economy of China is slowing, too, and as families get together for New Years and compare notes about how bad things are getting, moods will become more sour...

That's not much different to the UK. The MHRA doesn't have hundreds of inspectors, and we know the majority of them by first name terms where I work. They have to keep busy, though, given the number of sites for medical research and manufacturing of pharmaceuticals etc. here. As with food, which DEFRA deals with here, you need stringent, constant checks to keep to these guidelines, and China is only just getting there (India has tried and failed to get into the OECD programme for Good Laboratory Practice and I'm unsure about how they fare when it comes to things like dairy products in their own country).

We had these issues with rapid industrialisation in the West, and not all that long ago too. It's to be expected that Chindia will experience what we went through and learn from their mistakes, rather than from ours. The FDA really did put an end to all of this, and that was only really in the latter half of the 20th century.

From what I have heard (not verified) from friends who has traveled to India on a holiday, people can get sick from drinking from tap water, while Indians themselves don't, and they are asked by their tour guides to drink from bottled water instead.

Perhaps it is due to the Indians having greater immunity to their water supply?

Not sure if this is actually true.

[Admiral Valdemar]

That is true of just about anywhere you travel where the waterworks aren't as advanced as, say, the UK's or US'. When I've been to Greek or Spanish islands, you're told by the tour rep. to not drink the tap water. This isn't only because the systems in place mean the water may contain more deposits than normal, but because you've just moved to an area where bugs will be around that you've not had contact with yet. The last thing you want is norovirus on your holiday.

[mr friendly guy]

Amnesty international is bitching about it, not surprisingly.

Considering the adds they ran against China when they were hosting the olympics, if I were running the CCP propaganda machine I would keep this in mind for later use. Amnesty has screwed up values any way, and this just shows it. China were right to execute these people. Perhaps when they also harvest the organs, these people might end up contributing to society in death which they failed to do in life.

[Sarevok]

From what I have heard (not verified) from friends who has traveled to India on a holiday, people can get sick from drinking from tap water, while Indians themselves don't, and they are asked by their tour guides to drink from bottled water instead.

Perhaps it is due to the Indians having greater immunity to their water supply?

Not sure if this is actually true.

Actually they boil the tap water. Even in cities.

[K. A. Pital]

In India, one should only drink bottled water. Their purification system is one of the most abysmal among nations which are frequently travelled to. Remember, India is a Third World nation.

[FSTargetDrone]

From what I have heard (not verified) from friends who has traveled to India on a holiday, people can get sick from drinking from tap water, while Indians themselves don't, and they are asked by their tour guides to drink from bottled water instead.

Perhaps it is due to the Indians having greater immunity to their water supply?

Not sure if this is actually true.

I take it you have never heard of Montezuma's Revenge!

Meaning

The diarrhea (also spelled diarrhoea) that is suffered by tourists when travelling to foreign parts, in this case Mexico.

Origin

Montezuma was Emperor of Mexico, 1502-20. The sickness, more formally called "traveller's diarrhea", is usually caused by drinking unsterilised water or eating spicy food that visitors aren't accustomed to. It is a bacteriological illness, always uncomfortable, and occasionally serious. Most cases are caused by the enterotoxigenic E. coli bacterium.

The revenge element of the phrase alludes to countries that were previously colonized by stronger countries and are now, in this small way, getting their own back.

Names for it vary depending on the part of the world concerned. These usually have comic names, which reflect the embarrassment felt by the sufferer and the amusement in the lucky non-sufferers. Montezuma's Revenge is also known as the Gringo Gallop and the Aztec Two-step.

Those unlucky enough to suffer from it in Asia will hear it called Ghandi's Revenge, Gyppy Tummy, Delhi Belly, the Rangoon Runs, Tokyo Trots etc.

Gyppy Tummy goes back to at least the Second World War, but Montezuma's Revenge isn't particularly old. The earliest citation of it in print is from The Washington Post, January 1960:

"‘Wasn't there anything you didn't like?’ and they admit that, like most Americans, they suffered a three-day gastric upset described by a variety of names, names like the Gringo Gallop and Montezuma's Revenge."

When I was visiting a dusty Mexican border town back in the 1990s, I went out of my way to not drink the water. Until I did. No problems at all, as I recall.

[Glocksman]

I wish, sometimes, a little of that swift justice could be brought over to the US... but then, it's not so much the FDA's fault that Bush gutted them in an effort to make it easier for business to profit. Because that's what it's all about.

The FDA is down to, what, 12 inspectors, now, for the whole country + imports, or something? Eh.

But as for China, this is going to be an uneasy time for the government. They're also unpopular because of shoddy construction in those schools that collapsed during last year's earthquake... their well-managed Olympics may have bouyed them for a bit but as the afterglow fades and people still don't have their children (from collapsed schools or tainted milk) there could be some distinctly unhappy people. The economy of China is slowing, too, and as families get together for New Years and compare notes about how bad things are getting, moods will become more sour...

Perhaps it's just because I'm paying more attention to such things, but it seems to me that the US has had more contaminated food scares (peanut butter being the latest) during the Bush administration than I remember hearing about from 1980-2000.

As for the Chinese shooting the bastards, more power to them.
Shit, we should have shot the Ford executives who decided it'd be cheaper to settle wrongful death lawsuits over the Pinto gas tank design than to recall and fix the cars.

This kind of bullshit isn't confined to China and is a perfect example of why big 'L' Libertarian economics is simply thinly disguised 19th century Robber Baronism.