Posted on 03/24/2006 6:58:47 PM PST by indthkr
A Chinese cosmetics company has been using skin taken from the bodies of executed convicts to develop beauty products for sale in Europe, a London newspaper reported.
An agent for the company informed customers it is developing collagen for lip and wrinkle treatments from skin taken from prisoners after they had been shot.
The agent said some of the company‘s products have been exported to Britain, and that the use of skin from condemned convicts was “traditional" and nothing to “make such a big fuss about,“ the Guardian reported In addition to ethical concerns, there is the potential risk of infection from the harvested skin products.
The company was not identified by name for legal reasons and it is unclear whether collagen made from the skin of prisoners was in the research stage or in actual production.
“A lot of the research is still carried out in the traditional manner using skin from the executed prisoners and aborted fetus," the agent was quoted as saying. The material, he said, was being bought from “biotech" companies based in Heilongjiang Province and was being developed elsewhere in China.
He suggested that the use of skin and other tissues harvested from executed prisoners was not uncommon. “In China it is considered very normal and I was very shocked that Western countries can make such a big fuss about this," he said.
In the past, human rights groups have charged that China was using organs harvested from executed prisoners for medical transplants both domestically and internationally. China executed about 3,400 prisoners last year, according to Amnesty International.
Besides, there are NO Chinese cosmetics companies operating in Europe. It's a plain fact that Chinese cosmetics are not good enough to sell in Europe.
Another obvious thing is the cost of extracting human tissues would be prohibitive.
Welcome to FR...
LOL. FR Hall of Fame candidate!
The ugliest lips on earth?
The article is from The Guardian, major UK mainstream press, so, no, it's not some unattributed tabloid screech.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1568467,00.html
And you should do some research on developing collagen implements from organic tissues - the cosmetic industry already do it with animal tissues, using human tissues is perfectly within the relm of possible applications. And you don't need scale of millions or even thousands, only a small specific sample is needed for base material, so it's quite possible to "harvest" from just a few and still make a tidy profit. Also, to your other point about no Chinese cosmetic company in Europe, note that the Chinese are just selling the raw material, not their own branded finished products.
Chinese society is brutal to those who falls through the cracks - abuse and injustice against the people in the margins are rampant - the poorer and more marginalized people's lives just aren't worth very much in China, there is a lot of these types of activities going on.
Even in Singapore I have read in newspapers ads for fast track organ tranplant in China, one has to wonder where / how one can get an organ transplant on demand as long as one can pay up the molla.
I haven't a clue what you're post intends to prove.
People make money from all sorts of evil things. What does any of that have to do with Capitalism and investing.
Are you claiming because some Chinese company is doing evil then that tars all trade with China?
Recently Americans have been arrested for trading in human remains. They did so for reasons of capitalism- making money. What does that have to do with the rest of decent everyday American capitalism?
>Doesn't that sound like just a wee bit of a stretch, even for >the Red Chi Coms?
No.
The corrollary between the Chinese Communist Regime and NAZI Germany gets more exact with every passing year.
That is their ideal.
And the faux traders try to cover their eyes, their ears...and want to cover the mouths of anyone who happens to tell the truth.
"Soylent Yellow"
You baaad.
Reminds me of a "bad marketing" story about Gerber baby food (w/Gerber baby on the label) marketed somewhere overseas and the locals thought it had babies in it.
In the same list as the "Nova" sold in Mexico.
Mighta been an urban legend I dunno.
Sure. Ah if you cannot document the source nor name the company this is not "Journalism" this is propaganda. But then the Whine all the Time Choir has never been real intrested in facts merely the next excuse to spew the DNC Collectivist Economic dogma
Or neomorts for that matter.
That's OK, their adds say "No animals were harmed in the research or manufacture of this product."
So, its all OK.
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