Arrest in China Linked to 4,000 US Pet Deaths

[Animal 0]

Arrest in China Linked to 4,000 US Pet Deaths

2007-05-03


The International Herald Tribune reports Chinese authorities have arrested Mao Lijun, the general manager of the company thought responible for exporting contaminated wheat gluten that lead to the deaths of as many 4,000 cats and dogs in the US.

This story is unremarkable because it is typical. Yes, China's economy is booming, but the push to get rich quick is leading many to flout basic health safety, labor and environmental regulations. China today often reminds me of the US in the late 1800s, when robber barons were bending all the rules to build their castles in the sky.

Of course what differs is that at least in late 19th century America, there were muckrackers to write books like The Jungle, a public that could be outraged, and a government that would act. In China, although there are peasants or workers who organize isolated protests with some frequency, for example to demand back wages or fair compensation for their land, there is no free media to focus the public's attention on the greater issues, issues that cut across the specific concerns of geography or class.

Every once in awhile there will be an internet firestorm over some scandal (the internet being more free than the state-owned media), but more often than not, it's over some symbolic, probably nationalist, and mostly unthreatening issue, like the Starbucks in the Forbidden City. Hot air, in other words.

- By Jennifer Brea, World News Guide

http://chineseculture.about.com/b/a/257379.htm

( J'ai lu plus tôt, qu'au moins 20 millions de poulets auraient également été contaminés par ce même produit, de même que des cochons, dont au moins 300 se sont retrouvés sur les tablettes de supermarchés ... )