News » Society » Toll from N China restaurant explosion rises to 14
News » Society » Toll from N China restaurant explosion rises to 14 |
- Toll from N China restaurant explosion rises to 14
- Will China's new leaders change Tibet policy?
- Restaurant blast kills at least 8
- Ministry warning over HIV treatment
- China backs cease-fire
- District chief faces graft probe
- Chongqing official sacked over lewd video scandal
- China puts Himalayan claims on passport map, India maps its own
- Film fund eases distributors vs. theaters dispute
- Huayi buys into digital cinema equipment firm
- China’s Passport Maps Spark Protests From Vietnam, Philippines
- Have You Heard…
- Palestine envoy says Beijing backs U.N. entry
- Lou up for best director at Golden Horse awards
- Villagers forced to dig up ancestral tombs
- Netizens pour scorn on 'toilet seat-shaped hotel'
- 'Safe to drink' but maker of Jiugui issues an apology
- Passports spark fresh isles row
- New electronic passports issued by Beijing bear a map that includes its claim to almost all of the South China Sea, sparking protests from the Philippines and Vietnam.
- Hero of milk scandal dies
| Toll from N China restaurant explosion rises to 14 Posted: 23 Nov 2012 06:34 PM PST THE death toll from an explosion at a hot pot restaurant in north China's Shanxi Province yesterday evening rose to 14 early today with another 47 people being injured, local investigators said. The explosion, which occurred at 7:52 pm, triggered a blaze at the Xiyangyang (Happy Sheep) Hot Pot Restaurant in Shouyang County of Jinzhong City. Initial investigations showed the explosion was caused by a gas leak. Hot pot, the Chinese counterpart of fondue, is a kind of stew using a metal pot kept simmering by charcoal, electricity or gas. Investigators from the local county government said the injured, including 17 severely, were sent to hospital after the accident. They said among the dead, six were killed at the scene and eight others died in hospital despite medical treatment. The powerful explosion shattered the windows of the two-story restaurant and some neighboring shops as far as 20 meters away. Iron gates of some shops were twisted by the force of the explosion, a Xinhua reporter said. Witnesses said that there was nothing unusual before the explosion happened. "Suddenly, there was a big bang and the hot wave ensued," said Yuan Heping, who was dining in the restaurant with his wife and friends when the explosion happened. "The whole room was engulfed in black smoke and I had to use my sweater to cover my mouth before I managed to jump from the second-floor window," said Yuan, who suffered slight burn injuries in the explosion. |
| Will China's new leaders change Tibet policy? Posted: 23 Nov 2012 04:34 PM PST The BBC's Martin Patience examines whether a series of self-immolations will lead China's new leaders to change policy on Tibet. |
| Restaurant blast kills at least 8 Posted: 23 Nov 2012 10:05 AM PST AN explosion at a restaurant in north China's Shanxi Province last night killed at least eight people and injured 37 others. The explosion triggered a fire at the hotpot restaurant in Jinzhong. Police evacuated residents near the restaurant. An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the explosion. |
| Ministry warning over HIV treatment Posted: 23 Nov 2012 09:56 AM PST THE Health Ministry has banned hospitals from refusing to treat patients who are living with HIV. A ministry circular issued yesterday ordered health authorities across the nation to guarantee treatment for HIV-AIDS carriers. The order covers patients already known to be carriers of the virus as well as those whose infection is detected while undergoing treatment. Meanwhile, it requires authorities to ensure protective measures for health care professionals. Hospitals which are unable to offer necessary treatments should refer the patient to another designated hospital or ask local health authorities to arrange a referral, it said. If a patient's condition means that he or she can not be transferred, health authorities should designate doctors and nurses to perform medical services at the hospital where the patient has been admitted. It comes two days after Vice Premier Li Keqiang urged the ministry to guarantee medical treatment to patients with HIV infections following news reports that a hospital in the northern city of Tianjin refused to provide treatment to a 25-year-old lung cancer patient after he was found to be HIV-positive. The man eventually got the surgery he needed after concealing his condition. Tianjin's health bureau said on Thursday that preliminary investigations showed that Tianjin Cancer Hospital had neglected its duties. Li said that people with HIV/AIDS should not be discriminated against, and that work should be done to guarantee the safety of doctors and nurses treating HIV-positive patients. |
| Posted: 23 Nov 2012 09:55 AM PST CHINESE Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told the visiting Palestinian president's envoy that China welcomes the cease-fire in Gaza and pledged to offer emergency humanitarian aid to Palestine. "China applauds the cease-fire announcement by Israel and related Palestinian groups and expects the parties to honor the cease-fire commitment and avoid more conflicts," Yang told Bassam al-Salhi. Yang said the conflict again showed the importance of resolving the Palestine issue.
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| District chief faces graft probe Posted: 23 Nov 2012 09:51 AM PST A district Party chief in the eastern city of Wuxi is under investigation after authorities were tipped off about his corrupt practices and lifestyle. Zhu Weiping, 51, Party secretary of Binhu District, allegedly took at least 100 millions yuan (US$16 million) in bribes and kept several mistresses. Since September he has been placed under "double-designation," a special investigation scheme of the Party where an official is ordered to give explanation or confess about his or her alleged involvement in a discipline violation or corruption case at a designated time and in a designated place, the 21st Century Business Herald reported yesterday. Discipline officials from the Party have uncovered "many" property ownership certificates and bank books from Zhu's home, according to the newspaper report. Zhu's downfall is said to have been triggered by a dispute with a manager of a local steel company called Xuefeng. The company borrowed 200 million yuan from a bank with the help of Zhu who was promised some commission. But the company got only half of the loan and suspected Zhu of siphoning off the rest of the loan amount. As Xuefeng's debts piled up, it decided to report it to the government. Details of how Zhu kept his mistresses were also mentioned in the tip-off report, the report said. Zhu was regarded as an aggressive and daring official. He was appointed as Party secretary of Binhu District in July 2011. |
| Chongqing official sacked over lewd video scandal Posted: 23 Nov 2012 09:48 AM PST ANOTHER one bites the dust. In one more case of corruption and debauchery in high places, a senior government official in a southwest China city has been sacked from his post after he was identified as the person in a video having sex with a young woman which was posted on the Internet. The Party discipline watchdog in Chongqing City yesterday confirmed that Beibei District's Party Secretary Lei Zhengfu featured in the video, which was filmed in 2007. He has been removed from his post and an investigation ordered into the case,. After the racy video went viral on the Internet, Ji Xuguang, a journalist, published an article in the Southern Metropolis Daily this week identifying the official. "During the Spring Festival and two days after the holiday in 2007, the man, who was deputy Party chief and head of Beibei District at that time, was fooling around with his 18-year-old mistress at a hotel in Chongqing," he wrote in the article. Ji, who is registered under his real name on China's twitter-like website Sina Weibo, has denied uploading the video. He alleged that Lei had forcibly held the mistress, surnamed Zhao, in captivity for 30 days. Zhao secretly filmed the video after she and Lei quarreled in early 2007 but offered it to another reporter Zhu Ruifeng only five years later, Ji wrote on his microblog. Zhao held back the video all these years fearing retribution from the official but dared to speak up following local leadership changes, Ji said. In an earlier interview, the chubby-faced official denied the accusations with China News Service and said, "Don't believe it. They are all fakes. Just leave it (the case) alone." But Ji pointed out that Lei had once asked him to return the pictures. The Chongqing government information office said the allegation report did not come from an anonymous source and promised to handle the case according to law. Ji has promised all help to the investigators and said he "was 100 percent confident" about all the evidence against Lei, the People's Daily reported. Ji claimed Lei also abused his official status for personal gains. When Lei was the Party chief in the city's Dianjiang County between 2002 and 2006, he reportedly gave contracts of construction projects, such as renovating roads and building schools, to his relatives. Ji alleged that with Lei's help, his brother became a multi-millionaire from a poor farmer, while Zhao opened a decoration company rather than a small beauty parlor. Ji has become an instant hit with netizens with his exploits and has been dubbed "a real man" and a "national hero." Many believe that the case was another success for Internet users, who act as an invisible watchdog. "You are not alone, Hope you have a safe trip to Chongqing," one net user wrote. The Party has also stepped up its campaign against corruption, seeking to counter anger from citizens over regular reports of graft and debauchery among officials. Net-savvy Chinese people have found a potent weapon for fighting official corruption and abuse of power in microblogs like Weibo, which had more than 420 million users at the end of the third quarter of this year. In September, another official, Yang Dacai, lost his job in the northwestern province of Shaanxi after Internet users compiled pictures of him wearing several luxury watches that were outside his reach, given his civil servant's pay. A month later, an urban management official in the southern province of Guangdong, Cai Bin, was sacked after online postings showed that he owned as many as 22 properties. |
| China puts Himalayan claims on passport map, India maps its own Posted: 23 Nov 2012 09:49 AM PST  Source: Reuters By Frank Jack Daniel (Reuters) – India is stamping its own map on visas it issues to holders of new Chinese passports that contain a map depicting disputed territory within China's borders, the latest twist in tension in Asia over China's territorial claims. The map means countries disputing the Chinese claims will have to stamp microchip-equipped passports of countless visitors, in effect acquiescing to the Chinese point of view. In response, India is issuing visas stamped with its own version of the borders, sources with knowledge of the dispute told Reuters. "The correct map of India is stamped on to visas being issued on such passports," said one of the sources, who declined to be identified. China's long-standing territorial disputes with Japan and Southeast Asian neighbors have grown heated in recent months. On Thursday, the Philippines responded angrily to the new passports, saying Chinese carrying the document would be violating Philippine national sovereignty. India and China fought a brief, high-altitude border war in 1962. The nuclear-armed neighbors have held multiple rounds of talks to resolve their disputed Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh regions where they fought the war but have made little progress. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry Hua Chunying told a daily news briefing that China has selected the maps as background on the inside pages of the passports issued by the Ministry of Public Security in May. "The design is not targeting a specific country," Hua said. "We hope that the relevant countries take a rational and sensible attitude … to avoid causing interference with normal Sino-foreign personnel exchanges."   |
| Film fund eases distributors vs. theaters dispute Posted: 23 Nov 2012 09:41 AM PST  Source: china.org.cn By Zhang Rui China's film authorities announced yesterday that they will reward subsidies to film companies and theaters; good news for those involved in the ongoing dispute of whether or not to raise profit shares for distributors. However, the National Film Development Funds Management Committee (NFDFMC) issued four notices to all relevant parties yesterday afternoon, stating they will reward both production companies and theaters in various forms. The first notice said they will reward 3D and IMAX films. If any domestic 3D film (without other formats available) grosses 50 million (US$8.02 million) – 100 million yuan (US$16.05 million), the committee will reward its production company 1 million yuan (US$160,573); if the box office gross is between 100 million – 300 million (US$48.17 million), the reward is 2 million (US$321,146); at 300 million – 500 million (US$80.28 million), the reward is 5 million (US$802,865); and if the box office gross surpasses 500 million, then the reward will be 10 million (US$1.6 million). If any domestic IMAX film (without other formats available) grosses 25 million (US$4 million) – 100 million, the reward is 1 million yuan; if the gross is over 100 million, the reward standards are the same as the abovementioned ones for 3D productions. That is to say, the highest grossing home-made movie of this year, "Painted Skin: The Resurrection" which grossed over 700 million (US$112 million), can get 10 million yuan in return from film funds. The second notice was for theaters: If the domestic films' box office revenues stand at 50 percent and above of the total annual gross of a theater chain, the fund committee will reimburse all the money a theater previously handed over to them. If the percentage is between 45 percent and 50 percent, the committee will reimburse 80 percent of the funds a theater has handed over. If it's below 45 percent, but the domestic films revenue is still more than last year's, the fund will be reimbursed by 50 percent. Policies described in the other two notices also benefit new theaters in both rural and western areas, as well as theaters which install digital projectors before Dec. 31, 2012. All the policies in the four notices will be effective from Jan. 1, 2013. Since 1996, Chinese film production companies and distributors and theater chains have to hand over 5 percent of all gross revenues earned to a special "National Film Development Funds," which was set up by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) and Ministry of Finance. Authorities will use this fund to finance more films, many of which are low-budget. In the first 8 years since the fund was set up, it financed 202 films. However, the Chinese film industry went through several reforms in 2002, and there are many enterprises with the money for funding films, so the special fund was fully allocated to the development and construction of new theaters. Last August, director Feng Xiaogang openly expressed his dissatisfaction with the "5 percent" fund. He said Huayi Brothers Media, the film company he had shares in, had to hand over 40 million yuan (US$6.42 million) to the special fund in 2010, which almost made up for 50 percent of company's annual net revenue. Feng also pointed out that those film authorities had never told society how and where they were using the funds. One industry veteran has said the new policies are very good news and will help both sides of the dispute settle down. The profit shares dispute is expected to be resolved soon before the most important new year film season starts on Nov. 29, when Feng Xiaogang's historical epic "Back to 1942″ and Lu Chuan's blockbuster "The Last Supper" will open at theaters across China.   |
| Huayi buys into digital cinema equipment firm Posted: 23 Nov 2012 09:45 AM PST  Source: By Huang Ying ( China Daily) Huayi Brothers Media Group, one of China's leading private film production companies, said on Tuesday that it had acquired a 9 percent stake in digital cinema equipment and solution provider GDC Technology Ltd for $20.92 million. "This deal will lay a sound foundation for Huayi's theater business in terms of technology, as GDC Technology is a leading provider of digital film screening solutions in the industry," said Cai Ling, a cultural industry consultant with the Shenzhen-based CIC Industry Research Center. As a major player in the film industry, Huayi Brothers is known for its quality productions. It entered the movie theater sector in 2010, with its first cinema opening in Chongqing, and it currently has 12 cinemas across the nation. In the first three quarters of 2012, Huayi Brothers reported total revenue of 707.8 million yuan ($113.6 million), up 47.06 percent year-on-year. Its cinema arm accounted for 11.86 percent of the revenue, and its production sector contributed 33.26 percent, according to the company's financial report. "In recent years, the number of cinemas has increased rapidly, intensifying competition in the sector. Huayi Brothers, as a latecomer to the movie theater business, has the potential to develop better than its cinema rivals with GDC's technological support," Cai said. The number of cinemas in China grew from 1,545 in 2008 to 3,293 this year, according to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. "GDC Technology's core advantage lies in its technologies for digital screening, which are generally applied in 3D film screening," said Cai. According to SARFT, in the first nine months of 2012 China had 11,835 cinema screens, with digital screens accounting for 90 percent of the total, and more than 8,565 digital screens able to show 3D films. The number of 3D screens in China rose from 2,020 in 2010 to 5,355 last year, according to EntGroup Consulting, a Beijing-based entertainment consultancy. The deal will also boost Huayi's film production business, because technologies used in the screening of films will always require a corresponding improvement in filmmaking technologies, said Huang Qunfei, general manager of Beijing New Film Association Co Ltd, one of China's largest theater chains. Huayi's latest move is regarded by industry insiders as a further step in building its full film industry chain amid the current situation in which the costs of filmmaking are soaring, especially for those with special effects and a star-studded cast. More film production and distribution companies are branching into the cinema business, including Nasdaq-listed Bona Film Group, which started as a film distributor, and Beijing Galloping Horse Film & TV Production Co Ltd, which is known for its film and TV productions. The ongoing fight for box-office revenue between film production and distribution companies and movie theaters has come to a head with five major film production and distribution companies calling for their share of box office receipts to be increased from 43 to 45 percent, right before the busiest season of the year, which usually lasts from November to the end of the Spring Festival. So far, 13 theater chains have released a joint statement objecting to the claim, saying that they are under financial pressure from rising property costs and investment to upgrade their technology.   |
| China’s Passport Maps Spark Protests From Vietnam, Philippines Posted: 23 Nov 2012 09:47 AM PST  Source: Bloomberg News Vietnam and the Philippines criticized China's decision to include disputed South China Sea islands on maps printed inside new Chinese passports. Three separate pages in the passports include China's so- called "nine-dash" map of the sea, first published in 1947, that extends hundreds of miles south from China's Hainan Island to the equatorial waters off the coast of Borneo. Vietnam and the Philippines reject the map as a basis for sharing oil, gas and fish in the waters. "The action of China is contrary to the spirit of the declaration of conduct of parties in the South China Sea," Hernandez said yesterday in a mobile-phone text message. The map includes the Spratly island chain, which is the subject of overlapping claims by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines, according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's website. China says explorer Zheng He, whose sea adventures predate Christopher Columbus, crossed the South China Sea during the Ming Dynasty and cites historical maps that long predate the founding of the People's Republic in 1949. The Chinese Foreign Ministry website says the earliest discovery of the Spratlys, called Nansha in China and Truong Sa in Vietnam, can be traced back 2,000 years to the Han dynasty. Not 'Targeted' "The outline of China's map in the passport wasn't targeted at specific countries," the foreign ministry said yesterday in a faxed response to questions. "China is willing to communicate with relevant nations and promote the healthy development of contact between China and foreign personnels." China should "reverse their incorrect prints" on the passports, said Luong Thanh Nghi, a spokesman for Vietnam's foreign ministry. "These actions by China have violated Vietnam's sovereignty to the Paracel and Spratly islands as well as our rights and jurisdiction to related maritime areas in the South China Sea, or East Sea," he said, using Vietnam's term for the area under dispute. The maps in China's new passports didn't include islands in the East China Sea that are claimed by China and Japan.   |
| Posted: 23 Nov 2012 09:36 AM PST Have You Heard…   |
| Palestine envoy says Beijing backs U.N. entry Posted: 23 Nov 2012 09:53 AM PST  Source: Reuters By Michael Martina (Reuters) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' envoy to China said on Friday that Beijing backs their United Nations membership bid, a day after France indicated it would support a diplomatic upgrade for Palestine. "They (China) support the Palestinian right for ending occupation and building a Palestinian state ..and support the bid of the Palestinian membership in the United Nations," Salhi told Reuters in an interview after meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi. China's official Xinhua new agency quoted Yang as saying China "supports Palestine's entry into the United Nations and other international organizations and understands, respects and backs Palestine's bid for the U.N. observer status". After their drive for full U.N. membership failed in the U.N. Security Council last year amid U.S. opposition, the Palestinians have launched a watered-down bid for recognition as a "non-member state", similar to the Vatican's U.N. status. This request can be approved by the 193-nation U.N. General Assembly and seems certain to pass. Washington says it favors eventual statehood for the Palestinians, but wants it to come as a result of negotiations with Israel. The United States can block full recognition of Palestine as a U.N. member at the Security Council, where it has a veto. On Thursday, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius indicated support, reminding the French Senate of a campaign promise for international recognition of a Palestinian state made by President Francois Hollande. Beijing has kept close ties with the Palestinians for decades, but in recent years, it has cultivated stronger relations with Israel, especially in the field of defense. Salhi downplayed China's new ties while lashing out at the United States, saying Beijing has played an "active and vital" role on Palestine's behalf. "We could not ask China not to make these ties (with Israel). What we need is more balance from all the international community," Salhi said, adding that Washington had "given nothing in the past 15 or 16 years". A permanent member of the U.N. Security Council with veto powers, China has kept a low profile in Middle East diplomacy, and had little success in off-and-on attempts over the years to mediate in the Israeli-Palestinian issue. China's Foreign Ministry has repeatedly called for both sides to resume peace talks, and said it was concerned about Israel's recent large-scale military operations around Gaza.   |
| Lou up for best director at Golden Horse awards Posted: 23 Nov 2012 08:00 AM PST A DARK melodrama by director Lou Ye heads entries in the best film category at Taiwan's Golden Horse Film festival, catapulting Chinese mainland cinema to center stage at the event considered the Chinese-language Oscars. "Mystery" tells the story of a mild-mannered woman who seeks revenge after uncovering her husband's infidelity. Aside from best picture award, Lou is also up for best director and Hao Lei, the film's female protagonist, is a candidate for best actress. The awards ceremony will be held in Taipei tonight. Lou's films have long focused on sensitive subjects like sex, violence and politics. In the best picture category, "Mystery" faces tough competition from Hong Kong director Johnnie To's "Life Without Principle," a movie about ordinary citizens caught in the fallout of the global financial meltdown. To is also up for best director. Lau Ching Wan, who portrays a triad thug seeking to recover money lost in a loan shark scheme, is seen as a hot contender for best actor. Taiwan's "Gf-Bf" has seven nominations, including for film and director. Joseph Chang portrays a gay man in a romantic triangle involving three former classmates. Also up for the best film award are "Beijing Blues," about plainclothes crime-hunters, and "The Bullet Vanishes," a Hong Kong-mainland co-production about a detective investigating a series of murders in 1930s Shanghai.
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| Villagers forced to dig up ancestral tombs Posted: 23 Nov 2012 08:00 AM PST VILLAGERS were forced to dig up ancestral graves in Henan Province despite a state ban, protests and two accidental deaths, media reports said. Zhoukou City in the province in April ordered counties and towns to exhume and cremate bodies, remove all tombstones and place the urns in public cemeteries within three years, according to a government report. The city had offered a 300,000 yuan (US$48,100) reward to the first five counties to finish removing tombs while those lagging behind would be fined, People's Daily reported. Officials that spear-headed successful tomb-removing campaigns were promised promotions while those that disobeyed risked losing their jobs and further punishment, the report said. Official data published on November 7 showed nearly 2.35 million of Zhoukou's 3.5 million tombs had been relocated, regaining 2,000 hectares of farmland. Due to its impressive performance, the city was awarded 3 million yuan from the provincial government, Zhoukou Daily reported. In rural areas, cremations are rare and people often randomly choose a plot of land to bury deceased family members. The move sparked wide outrage among villagers, who believe deceased family members need to be buried with a complete body to ensure a peaceful afterlife. To persuade people to follow the plan, Zhang Fang, 70, a Party member, played a leading role in the grave removals, The Beijing News reported. While Zhang, his daughter in-law and sister's husband were removing an ancestor's tombstone in October, it collapsed. His relatives were killed in the mishap. The case created a media frenzy. "Their ancestors must feel angry and decided to take revenge as buckets of bones were spilled everywhere," a microblogger posted online. There were claims the city government would sell the land retrieved from removing grave sites to developers for huge profits. The Zhoukou government denied this claim, saying it wanted to relieve villagers from the burden of expensive rituals and make room for agricultural development, People's Daily reported. On November 16, the State Council, or China's Cabinet, eliminated a clause that allowed forced demolitions of grave sites. But Zhoukou continued with the grave site removals, the newspaper said. The Henan Civil Affairs Bureau said it didn't order Zhoukou to remove the tombs. |
| Netizens pour scorn on 'toilet seat-shaped hotel' Posted: 23 Nov 2012 08:00 AM PST CHINESE netizens are ridiculing a self-proclaimed "seven-star" hotel that will soon open on Taihu Lake because it looks like a "toilet seat." The hotel in Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, reportedly boasts a grand lake view but its appearance has generated large laughs among netizens. Most agreed it's design looked like a "toilet seat." "Now 'Big Pants' (a building in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, that attracted similar derision) will be sorry," Chen Yumu posted online. "'Toilet Seat' is much cooler." The Suzhou building is called Arch of the Orient and its designer says it will be the city's newest landmark. But thousands of neitzens joked it looked like a pair of "Big Pants" in September. Some even said its emergence means Beijing's famous "Big Shorts" building will no longer be lonely. China Central Television Station's headquarters has been nicknamed "Big Shorts" because many believe it looks like a pair of undershorts. A 157-meter-high steel loop building that cost nearly 100 million yuan (US$16 million) to build in Liaoning Province has also generated a stir among netizens because it has no practical function. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| 'Safe to drink' but maker of Jiugui issues an apology Posted: 22 Nov 2012 08:36 AM PST Drinking 500 grams, or just over half a liter, of plasticizer-tainted Jiugui liquor a day is not harmful to health, quality watchdogs said yesterday in a statement that sparked disbelief online. "Have the watchdogs reached such a conclusion by drinking the problem liquor every day throughout their life?" was one comment on Weibo.com. Another said: "Never mind the plasticizer, drinking 500 grams of Chinese distilled liquor every day might cost you your life." However, despite the watchdogs' assurances, the Hunan Jiugui Liquor Co yesterday apologized to customers and investors following tests earlier this week that showed excessive levels of toxic chemicals in samples of its product. The listed company is to scrutinize every link in its transportation and packaging processes, determine the cause of the contamination and make rectifications, it said in a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said on Wednesday that tests conducted by its Hunan branch found that liquor samples from Jiugui contained a level of 1.04 milligrams of dibutyl phthalate (DBP), a kind of plasticizer, per kilogram. The figure is much higher than the 0.3 mg per kg standard, a regulatory limit set by the Ministry of Health in June 2011, Xinhua news agency reported. Xinhua said it had been 17 months since the China Alcoholic Drinks Association knew liquor products contained plasticizer, but that fact was only made public after media reports about Jiugui surfaced this week. Following those reports, the liquor company based in Hunan Province had said its products were safe and denied reports of excess plasticizers. It also said that the media reports had caused "confusion and misunderstanding" among its customers. It admitted that DBP had been found, but said the substance would not harm health, if it was drunk "properly." But it didn't define "properly" and there are no indications on its products of what is a recommended daily amount. According to CCTV and Xinhua, officials with the country's quality supervision administration, the health ministry and the national food safety evaluation center told reporters the potential harm of plasticizers depended on the amount consumed and over which period of time. Removed from sale The officials said they had studied the maximum amount of plasticizer substance a person could take - figures provided by the European Food Safety Bureau - and said it would be safe to drink 500 grams of plasticizer-tainted Jiugui liquor every day. Jiugui liquor products had been removed from sale in most supermarkets in Shanghai and other cities and provinces across the country by Tuesday. They were also being removed from online stores, including those on Taobao.com, after the test results were revealed. The name jiugui means an alcoholic in Chinese. But it is more likely to be translated literally according to the meaning of its Chinese characters - jiu for liquor and gui for ghost - after the plasticizer revelation. In a play on words, a Xinhua editorial yesterday was headlined: "Is there ghost in liquor?" Liu Xuejun, a food science professor at Jilin Agricultural University, told Xinhua there were two possible causes of excessive levels of plasticizers in liquor. They could leak from PVC tubes or vessels used for storage or transportation, or come from flavoring essence. |
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