Chinese Milk Executive Says She Was Scapegoat for Crisis

Tian Wenhua, 66, has appealed against her conviction at a court in Shijiazhuang last month, as have the three other executives from Sanlu, who were given jail terms of between five and 15 years.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Mrs Tian's lawyer, Liang Zikan, launched an attack against the Chinese authorities, suggesting that his client was made a scapegoat and that the local authorities were aware of the problems at Sanlu but failed to act.

His condemnation of the trial is one of the strongest criticisms ever to be voiced about China's lack of legal transparency and the interference of politics.

At least six infants were killed during the milk crisis, which prompted panic among millions of Chinese parents. The crisis arose last September, when it emerged that 22 Chinese dairy companies had "bulked up" their milk with melamine, an industrial chemical which makes milk appear richer but also triggers kidney stones in children.

Mr Liang did not deny that Sanlu had tainted its milk with melamine, but suggested that the company had been working under the command of the local government. Mrs Tian was a pillar of society in Shijiazhuang, a senior Communist Party official and closely tied to the local authorities.

"The key date in this case is August 1, 2008," said Mr Liang. "Before that day, Sanlu had informed the local government many times about customers suffering unusual symptoms and requested a thorough test of its products," he said. "But it was only on August 1 that the Hebei Quarantine Bureau carried out a test for melamine on Sanlu products."

Despite their failure to act sooner, no local government figures have been put on trial for the milk crisis, and Mr Liang suggested that the charges against Mrs Tian, for selling substandard products,

"the levels of melamine knowingly-added by Sanlu were lower than health guidelines from the European Union and the United States"

Bet there will be no follow up on this assertion.

yitbos

“In her defence, Mr Liang said that the levels of melamine knowingly-added by Sanlu were lower than health guidelines from the European Union and the United States. Sanlu also added far less melamine to its milk than the “safe level” determined by the Chinese government on October 7.”

I think everyone everywhere should read this. It is the standard Chinese corporate ethics in display. So long as something is within legal limits, it is acceptable to deliberately contaminate food (or for that matter any other product) by adulterating it with a poisonous substance if it improves bottom-lines.

Its unforgivable enough that testing didn’t detect melamine that “might have been added” by suppliers to SanLu, it is absolutely horrific that San Lu themselves add Melamine. Melamine cannot be digested by the human body and hence has no added nutrition, it does not improve the taste of milk, nor does it accomplish anything beneficial to the end consumer. It only enables San Lu to claim that their product has enough protein content as required by the law.

SHAME ON CHINA!

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