Chinese quality watchdog would publicize the results of a nationwide inspection on baby milk powder in two days, said a senior quarantine official on Sunday.
Li Changjiang, head of the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine , said more than 150state-level inspection centers were working round the clock to test samples from all around the country.
During his tour to Hebei provincial inspection center, Li required inspectors to carry out tests seriously and carefully to reach a scientific, accurate and authoritative report. He said the AQSIQ would organize inspections on other kinds of dairy products following the baby milk powder tests.
He urged inspectors to examine every potentially problematic points in the production process and find out the problematic source so as to prevent any contamination.
On Sunday, Li led an inspection group to the Hebei provincial quality inspection center and the laboratory of Hebei entry-exit inspection and quarantine bureau. Other teams of officials were heading for Guangdong, and Heilongjiang provinces and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to inspect local diary product companies.
On Saturday evening the State Administration for Industry and Commerce ordered that all the Sanlu brand baby milk powder manufactured before Aug. 6 should be immediately removed from sale as it had caused kidney stones of at least 432 babies nationwide.
The Sanlu Group, a leading Chinese dairy producer based in northern Hebei Province, admitted Friday that it had found some of its baby milk powder products were contaminated with melamine, a chemical raw material. It issued an immediate recall of milk formula made before Aug. 6.
The provincial government has ordered a halt of production of the Sanlu Group. Meanwhile, it has ordered local police to try their best to work on the case. Local hospitals were also ready to deal with a possible surge of baby patients.
Hebei provincial Party secretary Zhang Yunchuan said on Saturday night that the company should make proper arrangements for workers to make sure they would have basic living allowances after the halt of production.
In other parts of the country, local authorities also made urgent arrangements. The quality inspection and quarantine bureau of Southwestern Yunnan Province canceled the three-day holidays of the Mid-Autumn Festival and organized a special inspection on local baby milk powder producers.
In northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, a major dairy production base in China, local food safety authorities issued an alert on Saturday, calling for relevant government agencies including health, commerce, quality control, agricultural and husbandry offices to take part in a synchronized campaign targeting baby milk powder.
In the northern ancient city of Xi'an, local commerce bureau had seized suspicious milk powder weighing up to 350 kilograms by Saturday. While in the southernmost Hainan Province, three babies, who were confirmed to have developed kidney stones from drinking Sanlu milk powder, had been hospitalized.
Source: Xinhua
Monday, September 15, 2008
Chinese FM opens doors to disabled
The three spokespersons of the Foreign Ministry made a rare joint appearance on Saturday - not over some critical diplomatic issue but to welcome a group of special guests.
"Welcome to the Foreign Ministry!" spokesman Liu Jianchao told 11-year-old Li Yue, who lost her left leg in the May 12 earthquake. The girl shot to stardom after her ballet performance at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Paralympics.
"Your performance at the opening ceremony moved billions of people around the world. You've made a special contribution to Chinese diplomacy," Liu said.
Li was among 37 physically challenged people invited to the ministry, including two other students from the quake-hit area.
"We've made full preparations for the guests," Liu said. "We want them to have a comfortable and happy experience here."
Several diplomats introduced the ministry's daily work and its contributions to serving physically challenged people. China played a positive role in pushing forward the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which took effect in May, Liu told the visitors.
"The spokespersons are quite amiable, totally different from what I thought," said Liao Bo, a 17-year-old student from Beichuan Middle School, Sichuan, who lost his left leg after being buried for more than 20 hours. He has received treatment in Beijing since June and will enter Beijing No 4 Middle School, one of the best middle schools in the capital, this autumn.
Liao was even more surprised to see Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, who had been waiting for them in another hall with Xavier Gonzalez, CEO of the International Paralympic Committee.
"Dear children, I hope you can face your life and difficulties strongly. The gate of the ministry is always open to you," said Yang, who accompanied the youngsters on a visit to the Paralympic village.
When meeting famous South African Olympic and Paralympic swimmer Natalie du Toit, he introduced Li Yue to her.
"Li Yue is still a little girl yet quite strong. She represents the spirit of perseverance of Chinese people," Yang said.
"I saw her performance at the opening ceremony; she did a great job," Du Toit said, smiling to Li.
Li also received great encouragement from China's Paralympians.
"As long as you cherish your dream, be independent, confident and strive to be stronger, you will be a winner in your life," Wu Guojing, the Beijing Paralympic gold medalist of powerlifting in men's 52 kg division told her when putting his gold medal around her neck.
The girl nodded. "I believe I can go on dancing and dance better."
Source: China Daily
"Welcome to the Foreign Ministry!" spokesman Liu Jianchao told 11-year-old Li Yue, who lost her left leg in the May 12 earthquake. The girl shot to stardom after her ballet performance at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Paralympics.
"Your performance at the opening ceremony moved billions of people around the world. You've made a special contribution to Chinese diplomacy," Liu said.
Li was among 37 physically challenged people invited to the ministry, including two other students from the quake-hit area.
"We've made full preparations for the guests," Liu said. "We want them to have a comfortable and happy experience here."
Several diplomats introduced the ministry's daily work and its contributions to serving physically challenged people. China played a positive role in pushing forward the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which took effect in May, Liu told the visitors.
"The spokespersons are quite amiable, totally different from what I thought," said Liao Bo, a 17-year-old student from Beichuan Middle School, Sichuan, who lost his left leg after being buried for more than 20 hours. He has received treatment in Beijing since June and will enter Beijing No 4 Middle School, one of the best middle schools in the capital, this autumn.
Liao was even more surprised to see Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, who had been waiting for them in another hall with Xavier Gonzalez, CEO of the International Paralympic Committee.
"Dear children, I hope you can face your life and difficulties strongly. The gate of the ministry is always open to you," said Yang, who accompanied the youngsters on a visit to the Paralympic village.
When meeting famous South African Olympic and Paralympic swimmer Natalie du Toit, he introduced Li Yue to her.
"Li Yue is still a little girl yet quite strong. She represents the spirit of perseverance of Chinese people," Yang said.
"I saw her performance at the opening ceremony; she did a great job," Du Toit said, smiling to Li.
Li also received great encouragement from China's Paralympians.
"As long as you cherish your dream, be independent, confident and strive to be stronger, you will be a winner in your life," Wu Guojing, the Beijing Paralympic gold medalist of powerlifting in men's 52 kg division told her when putting his gold medal around her neck.
The girl nodded. "I believe I can go on dancing and dance better."
Source: China Daily
Streets without cars advocated
The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development's initiation of a national car-free day on Sept. 22 is of significance to both the country's urban development and environmental protection.
The theme, "humanized street", points to the trend in city renovations, of city roads in particular, in recent years.
On that day from 7 in the morning until 7 in the evening, cities are encouraged to set aside a particular section of a street or road and make it open only to pedestrians, public buses, taxis and cyclists. If possible, some cities may keep all their streets or roads during the 12 hours closed to cars.
This activity is meant to let residents feel how nice a street can be without the flow of speeding cars. Even those who drive cars will get to know how long queues of motor vehicles make urban streets an unwelcome space for urban dwellers.
Thirty years back when the country was nicknamed the "kingdom of bicycles", almost all streets or roads had lanes for cyclists. They were flanked by trees on both sides, which would protect cyclists from the scorching sun in the summer and keep them safe from the possibility of being knocked down by motor vehicles. Pavements too were wider and shaded by trees.
The rapid increase of the number of cars, both private and public, has prompted repeated road renovations in many cities, big cities like Beijing in particular. Roads and streets are much wider after renovations. Many narrower, separate lanes for cyclists are divided by just a painted line rather than by fences. Many pavements now are narrower so as to make room for motor vehicles.
Most renovated roads or streets are much more friendly to cars than to cyclists or pedestrians.
The theme of "humanized street" challenges the existing concept for road renovations. And it also points to the irony that increasingly wider roads have proved to be no solution to traffic jams.
The restriction of cars on alternate days according to the last figures of their license plates has enabled Beijing residents to enjoy the cleanest air and clearest sky in years during the Olympic Games. This has resulted in a heated debate on whether the restriction should be kept as a permanent rule.
Obviously Beijing residents have become much more aware of how the quality of their life has been negatively affected by the increasing number of cars. But many are still reluctant to give up the convenience that driving brings them.
Yet, if the national car-free day is regularly observed, it can drive home how cities with less cars on the road can benefit all the residents. That, in turn, can push authorities and city planners to provide more convenient and comfortable public transport. And such moves can attract more residents to use public transport means.
Source: China Daily
The theme, "humanized street", points to the trend in city renovations, of city roads in particular, in recent years.
On that day from 7 in the morning until 7 in the evening, cities are encouraged to set aside a particular section of a street or road and make it open only to pedestrians, public buses, taxis and cyclists. If possible, some cities may keep all their streets or roads during the 12 hours closed to cars.
This activity is meant to let residents feel how nice a street can be without the flow of speeding cars. Even those who drive cars will get to know how long queues of motor vehicles make urban streets an unwelcome space for urban dwellers.
Thirty years back when the country was nicknamed the "kingdom of bicycles", almost all streets or roads had lanes for cyclists. They were flanked by trees on both sides, which would protect cyclists from the scorching sun in the summer and keep them safe from the possibility of being knocked down by motor vehicles. Pavements too were wider and shaded by trees.
The rapid increase of the number of cars, both private and public, has prompted repeated road renovations in many cities, big cities like Beijing in particular. Roads and streets are much wider after renovations. Many narrower, separate lanes for cyclists are divided by just a painted line rather than by fences. Many pavements now are narrower so as to make room for motor vehicles.
Most renovated roads or streets are much more friendly to cars than to cyclists or pedestrians.
The theme of "humanized street" challenges the existing concept for road renovations. And it also points to the irony that increasingly wider roads have proved to be no solution to traffic jams.
The restriction of cars on alternate days according to the last figures of their license plates has enabled Beijing residents to enjoy the cleanest air and clearest sky in years during the Olympic Games. This has resulted in a heated debate on whether the restriction should be kept as a permanent rule.
Obviously Beijing residents have become much more aware of how the quality of their life has been negatively affected by the increasing number of cars. But many are still reluctant to give up the convenience that driving brings them.
Yet, if the national car-free day is regularly observed, it can drive home how cities with less cars on the road can benefit all the residents. That, in turn, can push authorities and city planners to provide more convenient and comfortable public transport. And such moves can attract more residents to use public transport means.
Source: China Daily
460,000 evacuated as Sinlaku approaches E China
About 460,000 people in east China's Zhejiang and Fujian Provinces have been evacuated as tropical storm Sinlaku, which was weakened from a typhoon on Monday morning, was approaching.
Waves hit the coast as typhoon Sinlaku approaches Nanfangauo. About 460,000 people in east China's Zhejiang and Fujian Provinces have been evacuated as tropical storm Sinlaku, which was weakened from a typhoon on Monday morning, was approaching.
The Fujian provincial headquarters for flood control said on Monday morning that close to 230,000 people had been evacuated as of 9 p.m. on Sunday and the mass evacuation was still under way.
In Zhejiang, 230,000 residents have been evacuated and 30,000 fishing boats have been recalled to harbor.
Typhoon Sinlaku weakened into a tropical storm at 8 a.m. Monday, while its eye was reported to be about 203 km to the southeast of Wenzhou in southeastern Zhejiang and move northward at a speed of 5 km per hour, according to the local weather authorities.
Heavy rains were reported in eastern and northern parts of Zhejiang and central and northern parts of Fujian on Monday morning.
Sinlaku, the 13th tropical storm so far this year in China, injured 13 people when it hit northeastern Taiwan on Sunday.
More than 130,000 households in Taiwan suffered a power blackout, and 800 lost their water supply, which has yet to be reconnected. A total of 32 shelters have been built for 782 typhoon victims, local authority said.
Work and schools were suspended in 21 counties and cities on the island on Sunday.
Source: Xinhua
Waves hit the coast as typhoon Sinlaku approaches Nanfangauo. About 460,000 people in east China's Zhejiang and Fujian Provinces have been evacuated as tropical storm Sinlaku, which was weakened from a typhoon on Monday morning, was approaching.
The Fujian provincial headquarters for flood control said on Monday morning that close to 230,000 people had been evacuated as of 9 p.m. on Sunday and the mass evacuation was still under way.
In Zhejiang, 230,000 residents have been evacuated and 30,000 fishing boats have been recalled to harbor.
Typhoon Sinlaku weakened into a tropical storm at 8 a.m. Monday, while its eye was reported to be about 203 km to the southeast of Wenzhou in southeastern Zhejiang and move northward at a speed of 5 km per hour, according to the local weather authorities.
Heavy rains were reported in eastern and northern parts of Zhejiang and central and northern parts of Fujian on Monday morning.
Sinlaku, the 13th tropical storm so far this year in China, injured 13 people when it hit northeastern Taiwan on Sunday.
More than 130,000 households in Taiwan suffered a power blackout, and 800 lost their water supply, which has yet to be reconnected. A total of 32 shelters have been built for 782 typhoon victims, local authority said.
Work and schools were suspended in 21 counties and cities on the island on Sunday.
Source: Xinhua
Bangladeshi head of gov't starts four-day visit to China
Fakhruddin Ahmed, Chief Advisor of Bangladeshi Caretaker Government arrived in Beijing on Monday, starting his four-day visit to China.
Fakhruddin Ahmed, who visited here at the invitation of the Chinese government, will meet top Chinese leaders and attend the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games on Wednesday.
Source: Xinhua
Fakhruddin Ahmed, who visited here at the invitation of the Chinese government, will meet top Chinese leaders and attend the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games on Wednesday.
Source: Xinhua
Two arrested over milk powder contamination scandal
Two brothers who had been selling three tons of contaminated milk per day have been arrested in north China's Hebei Province in the wake of the Sanlu milk powder contamination scandal, local police said on Monday.
The brothers surnamed Geng, who had been running a private milk collecting station since May 2004, face the charges of producing and selling toxic and hazardous food, said Shi Guizhong, a police spokesman of Hebei Province.
The elder Geng, 48, began to put melamine, a chemical raw material strictly forbidden in food processing, into milk at the end of last year.
Melamine is used in plastics and other industries. Experts said it can it is added into raw milk so that the protein content of the milk can appear higher than it is actually.
Geng did so because he had suffered losses after milk from his station had been rejected several times by Sanlu Group, producer of the milk powder that gave hundreds of infants kidney stones, for failing to meet Sanlu's standards, according to the police spokesman.
The younger Geng was the one who sent the milk to Sanlu Group. The Geng brothers had since been selling three tons of contaminated milk per day.
The elder Geng confessed to police that his family never drank the contaminated milk and he was aware that he was deceiving the Sanlu Group by adding the chemical into milk.
A total of 19 people from private milk collecting stations have been detained by police in Hebei in the milk powder contamination scandal. The Gengs were the first two to be arrested.
Source: Xinhua
The brothers surnamed Geng, who had been running a private milk collecting station since May 2004, face the charges of producing and selling toxic and hazardous food, said Shi Guizhong, a police spokesman of Hebei Province.
The elder Geng, 48, began to put melamine, a chemical raw material strictly forbidden in food processing, into milk at the end of last year.
Melamine is used in plastics and other industries. Experts said it can it is added into raw milk so that the protein content of the milk can appear higher than it is actually.
Geng did so because he had suffered losses after milk from his station had been rejected several times by Sanlu Group, producer of the milk powder that gave hundreds of infants kidney stones, for failing to meet Sanlu's standards, according to the police spokesman.
The younger Geng was the one who sent the milk to Sanlu Group. The Geng brothers had since been selling three tons of contaminated milk per day.
The elder Geng confessed to police that his family never drank the contaminated milk and he was aware that he was deceiving the Sanlu Group by adding the chemical into milk.
A total of 19 people from private milk collecting stations have been detained by police in Hebei in the milk powder contamination scandal. The Gengs were the first two to be arrested.
Source: Xinhua
Disabled soldier gives life support to self, others
Yuan Dianhua is well known in his hometown of Dongming County in east China's Shandong Province, primarily for the opportunities he has given to the disabled and ex-soldiers at his small factory.
A former soldier himself, the 42 year old has tried his hand at many vocations in selling vegetables, raising fish and planting trees on the Tibetan highland, among others.
When Yuan joined the army in October 1983, he was only 17. He quickly won overwhelming praise for his hard-bitten spirit and attitude that he brought to both his life and work. Months later, his life changed totally when he lost both his legs during a military mission.
Despite a decent pension, he refused to literally stand still in his life after leaving the military in 1987.
"I can never live the rest of my life in a wheelchair. I will stand," he said rather convincingly.
After his accident, even the artificial limbs he was fitted with couldn't support him well enough to walk independently. By the time he was really able to stand without crutches and move without a wheelchair, the join where his flesh connected with the limbs were bloodied and bruised all over.
Then he learned to ride a bicycle and motorbike.
At the end of the 1980s, he started a vegetable store with his wife. The business went well until a fire in June 1990 burned almost everything in their house.
The family lived the following days selling dumplings on the street and eating only the vegetables they had planted.
"The days were really hard back then, but they were no more than 24 hours," Yuan said.
In 1991, he borrowed 2,000 yuan and went to the country's economy hub Shanghai for better employment opportunities. He spent five years there selling workers safety products.
One time a screw came loose in one of his artificial limbs and Yuan fell down the stairs while climbing up to an office on a sales call. The office manager was so moved by his tough spirit he signed a 15,000 yuan contract that day.
It was Yuan's hard-bitten nature that gained him respect and enough money to start his life over again.
When he came home five years later, he not only paid all his debt, he even built a two-story house for his family.
He then bought and managed a fish pond and set up a tree-planting company in the southwest Tibetan highland.
In 2005 after Yuan had returned home, he learned of other people's disabilities and the difficulties they had in finding jobs. "All these years I've been busy making a career for myself, I've paid too little attention to my fellow disabled," he said.
"I feel so sad to see my comrades living in such difficulty. It doesn't matter how much money I earn. I only want to try my best to help them live a better life."
Despite the objections of relatives and friends, he gave up the business in Tibet and set up a small factory where disabled people produced gloves, helmets and other labor safety products.
With the support from the local government, the factory officially started in November 2006 in a former school building.
Now, more than 30 handicapped workers, including 22 former soldiers, work in the factory.
"Though I took off my uniform long ago and I lost my legs, I will stand up straight ... because it is soldier's blood flowing in my veins," Yuan said.
Source: Xinhua
A former soldier himself, the 42 year old has tried his hand at many vocations in selling vegetables, raising fish and planting trees on the Tibetan highland, among others.
When Yuan joined the army in October 1983, he was only 17. He quickly won overwhelming praise for his hard-bitten spirit and attitude that he brought to both his life and work. Months later, his life changed totally when he lost both his legs during a military mission.
Despite a decent pension, he refused to literally stand still in his life after leaving the military in 1987.
"I can never live the rest of my life in a wheelchair. I will stand," he said rather convincingly.
After his accident, even the artificial limbs he was fitted with couldn't support him well enough to walk independently. By the time he was really able to stand without crutches and move without a wheelchair, the join where his flesh connected with the limbs were bloodied and bruised all over.
Then he learned to ride a bicycle and motorbike.
At the end of the 1980s, he started a vegetable store with his wife. The business went well until a fire in June 1990 burned almost everything in their house.
The family lived the following days selling dumplings on the street and eating only the vegetables they had planted.
"The days were really hard back then, but they were no more than 24 hours," Yuan said.
In 1991, he borrowed 2,000 yuan and went to the country's economy hub Shanghai for better employment opportunities. He spent five years there selling workers safety products.
One time a screw came loose in one of his artificial limbs and Yuan fell down the stairs while climbing up to an office on a sales call. The office manager was so moved by his tough spirit he signed a 15,000 yuan contract that day.
It was Yuan's hard-bitten nature that gained him respect and enough money to start his life over again.
When he came home five years later, he not only paid all his debt, he even built a two-story house for his family.
He then bought and managed a fish pond and set up a tree-planting company in the southwest Tibetan highland.
In 2005 after Yuan had returned home, he learned of other people's disabilities and the difficulties they had in finding jobs. "All these years I've been busy making a career for myself, I've paid too little attention to my fellow disabled," he said.
"I feel so sad to see my comrades living in such difficulty. It doesn't matter how much money I earn. I only want to try my best to help them live a better life."
Despite the objections of relatives and friends, he gave up the business in Tibet and set up a small factory where disabled people produced gloves, helmets and other labor safety products.
With the support from the local government, the factory officially started in November 2006 in a former school building.
Now, more than 30 handicapped workers, including 22 former soldiers, work in the factory.
"Though I took off my uniform long ago and I lost my legs, I will stand up straight ... because it is soldier's blood flowing in my veins," Yuan said.
Source: Xinhua
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