BBC News
6 May 2010

China has seen a dramatic rise in cases of syphilis, as a result of rapid social change, US researchers say.

A report in the New England Journal of Medicine says syphilis is now the most commonly reported communicable disease in Shanghai, the second-largest city.

Pregnant women are also increasingly passing the disease to their children, with more than one baby with congenital syphilis born every hour in 2008.

No other country has seen such a rise since the discovery of penicillin.

Syphilis was almost eradicated from China in the 1950s with a sweeping programme of antibiotics and brothel shutdowns.

But the researchers say the disease is now “a major scourge lurking in the shadows”, with around 20 people in every 100,000 in China carrying the infection.     more …

A Chinese food expert writes a letter exposing malpractice in the industry

Epocjh Times
Mar 14, 2010
By Wang Qian & Yu Lian
Sound of Hope Radio

A food processing industry veteran in China’s Hubei Province had a letter published last week exposing what he regards as severe food safety problems in China.

Published in the Wuhan Daily News on March 7, Li Deshou’s letter has since been widely quoted by many Chinese bloggers. He pointed out that food safety issues are terrible and widespread, and that authorities have to take immediate action.

Mr. Li, Chairman of the Grain Association in Guangshui City and Vice Chairman of the Grain Association in Suizhou City, has been in the food processing industry for 17 years and has been directly involved in selling rice.

He stated that almost all of the rice sold in Wuhan from Suizhou has been polished with soybean oil. “Polishing rice with soybean oil has become a common under-the-table practice for some unethical plants.”

Oil added to rice becomes rancid easily and can therefore cause harm to the human body if eaten. Some unethical processing plants even use industrial oil; the potential consequences of this practice can range from damage to the digestive and neural systems to death, according to Mr. Li’s letter.    more …

The Epoch Times
New Tang Dynasty Television
Dec 21, 2009
By Xie Lin & Li Ming

Doctors have received notices throughout China’s municipal and provincial hospitals not to diagnose H1N1 viral infection, according to the research conducted by the New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV).

Instead, doctors have been told to diagnose patients with “seasonal flu” or “pneumonia,” with only the severely ill patients selected to undertake an H1N1 confirmation test. Those with light symptoms are sent home, according to doctors.

Recent interviews by The Epoch Times have revealed that doctors, school staff, experts, and ordinary Chinese people are all painting the same picture—of a swiftly moving pandemic that is being covered up, based on instruction from the communist regime’s leadership.

A senior doctor from Chaoyang County in northeast China’s Liaoning Province told NTDTV that the regime has abdicated responsibility for treatment of H1N1 cases, and that the Chinese Communist Party’s cadres at all levels are covering up the pandemic to save their political careers.

“Now, we don’t report [H1N1], we just say that it is a flu,” the doctor said on condition of anonymity. “The government does not care… There are plenty of regulations— if 10 people die, you cannot report all 10, you can only report one. Now, there are only lies.”    more …

BBC News
22 December 2009

China has dismissed claims made by a British minister that it “hijacked” efforts to reach an agreement at the climate summit in Copenhagen.

Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband had accused China of vetoing two agreements on limiting emissions.

Beijing’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said the accusations were a political plot made by leaders who wanted to shirk their own obligations.

The summit ended without the 192 nations reaching a binding agreement.

The delegates simply committed to “taking note” of a deal recognising the need to limit temperature rises to 2C.

Jiang Yu did not mention Mr Miliband by name, but in comments reported by the Xinhua state news agency, she said statements from “certain British politicians” were “plainly a political scheme”.

The aim, she said, was “to shirk responsibilities that should be assumed towards developing countries, and to provoke discord among developing countries”.

“This scheme will come to nothing,” said Ms Jiang.     more …

BBC News
November 28, 2009

A Chinese court is hearing the first civil compensation claim by a parent whose child fell ill during last year’s tainted milk scandal.  Ma Xuexin of Henan province is suing collapsed dairy group Sanlu and a supermarket for $8,000 (£4,860).  His young son is one of hundreds of thousands of infants who became sick after drinking baby milk formula laced with the industrial chemical melamine.

Two people were executed on Tuesday for their part in the scheme.  Nineteen other people have been jailed in connection with the case, which resulted in the deaths of at least six children.

Melamine is used in the making of plastics and fertilisers. If ingested it can cause kidney failure and kidney stones.  more …

Radio Free Asia
Nov 12, 2009
Feng Riyao

The first civil trial in China on the issue of tainted milk powder, originally scheduled for Nov.10, was abruptly postponed last Friday by the court. No new date has been set .

Zhao Lianhai, organizer of a parents group for victims of tainted milk powder, said that he is sure that the delay was related to his online appeal for victims’ families and other advocates to attend the trial. He feels that the regime postponed the trial to “flex its muscles.” Parents of the victims expressed outrage over the court’s decision, which offered no reason for the delay.

It has been over a year since the tainted milk powder issue was first brought to the attention of the public. To date, four cases have been accepted by the courts. Two of them were filed in Hebei province and the court refused to go through trials and ordered both sides to undergo mediation. The other two cases were scheduled to be tried in Beijing. One of them was scheduled to be tried on Nov. 17 in Daxing District Court.
On Friday morning, Nov. 6 , Peng Jian, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, received notice of the trial’s postponement from the Daxing Court. Zhao Lianhai, organizer of the Coalition of Families of Children with Kidney Stones, said that he believed the court’s action was targeted against him.

“After I sent out notices online [inviting victims' families to come to the trial,] the government feared there would be too many people present, and they would not be able to handle it. This is the first civil case [on the issue of tainted milk powder requesting compensation. I had hoped that the victims’ families would join forces, attend the trial, and show their support.” Zhao said,

The case also received broad media attention, which Zhao claimed was part of the reason for the indefinite postponement. “They hope to drag this out for a long time, and then, suddenly and hastily hold a trial,” he said .

Zhao expressed regret and anger over the government’s interference with the consumer rights initiative. He said parents of many of the victims were planning to attend the trial, and were very disappointed that the trial had been postponed.    more …

The Yangtze river basin is being increasingly affected by extreme weather and its ecosystems are under threat, environmentalists say.

BBC News
Tuesday, 10 November 2009

In a new report, WWF-China says the temperature in the basin area of China’s longest river has risen steadily over the past two decades.  This has led to an increase in flooding, heat waves and drought.  Further temperature rises will have a disastrous effect on biodiversity in and along the river, the report says.

The WWF – formerly known as the World Wildlife Fund – predicts that in the next 50 years temperatures will go up by between 1.5C and 2C.  The group’s report is the largest assessment yet of the impact of global warming on the Yangtze River Basin, where about 400 million people live.   more …

Epoch Times
Nov 3, 2009
By Fang Xiao, Gu Xiaohua & Wang Lei

A freshman from the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA) died on Oct. 27 after being diagnosed with H1N1 influenza according to the Beijing Health Bureau. While official figures for infections in Beijing run at over 6,000, experts say it is only the tip of the iceberg.

Apparently the victim of an outbreak of H1N1 that occurred during a mandatory military training session for university freshmen on Oct. 22, the student was admitted to the district hospital in Beijing on Oct. 26 and died the next day, according to the Health Bureau’s report of Oct 28.

More than 3,000 BUAA freshmen participated in the training, of which 700 were reported to have been infected with H1N1. Over 400 recovered, while 300 still suffer flu-like symptoms, according to Deng Xiaohong, spokesperson for the Bureau who was quoted in a follow-up report by Beijing Youth Daily on Oct. 31.

According to the report, about 1,000 students had already left the training facility, and more than 2,000 were still under quarantine there.

Elsewhere, major hospitals in Beijing were inundated city-wide with an influx of students with flu-like symptoms and fevers.    more …