China reports on tainted milk deaths
　

NO WORD:: Without an official cause of death, mourning families fear they will be refused compensation promised by the government through the Health Ministry

AP, BEIJING
Wednesday, Dec 03, 2008, Page 5

China’s Health Ministry said six babies may have died after consuming tainted milk powder, up from a previous official toll of three, and announced a six-fold increase in its tally of infants sickened in the scandal to nearly 300,000.

It was the first time since Sept. 21 that health authorities have revised the total number of babies sickened by milk powder adulterated with the industrial chemical melamine. The previous total was about 50,000.

The crisis has been met with public dismay and anger, particularly among parents who feel the government breached their trust after their children were sickened or died from drinking infant formula authorities had certified as safe.

The latest statistics show that Chinese leaders are slowly acknowledging the breadth of China’s worst food safety scare in years. During such crises, the government often deliberately releases information piecemeal in part to keep from feeding public anger.

The ministry said in a statement late on Monday that 294,000 babies across the country had suffered from urinary problems after consuming milk powder laced with melamine.

“Most of the sickened children received outpatient treatment only for small amounts of sand-like kidney stones found in their urinary systems, while some patients had to be hospitalized for the illness,” the statement said.

Thousands of parents have been clamoring for compensation for their sickened and dead children. The release of the figures raises the question of whether the Health Ministry is getting closer to finalizing a compensation scheme.

Six babies had possibly died, the statement said, with four of the cases recorded in the provinces of Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Guizhou and Shaanxi, and the other two in Gansu Province.

There are other families who say their children died from drinking milk powder made by Sanlu, the dairy at the center of the crisis, but their cases were apparently still uncounted. These include cases in Henan, Shaanxi and in Xinjiang Province.

“When the county health bureau first came to us, they said my child died because of the milk powder,” said apple farmer Tian Xiaowei of Shaanxi Province, whose year-old boy died in August. “But later when the case was reported to the district health authority, they said there’s no proof that the death was linked with milk powder.”

In Henan, Li Shenyi, the uncle of a 9-month-old girl who died of kidney failure in September, also said he had not been contacted by local health authorities on whether the child’s death has been classified as caused by tainted formula.

Without the official verdict, families fear they will be refused compensation promised by the government through the Health Ministry, which has also said it would provide free medical treatment for children sickened by tainted milk.

“I’ve talked with a lawyer and at first we wanted lots of compensation, but later we agreed to settle for a much smaller amount, although I wasn’t happy. But now even that seems impossible as nobody has ever talked to us about compensation,” Tian said.

A Beijing lawyer who has provided legal assistance to families of children who became ill said there was still no word of compensation. He added there were likely even more deaths that had not been counted yet.

“I assume that the government is worried about the situation of the dairies and is afraid the companies may fall if they have to pay for the compensation amid the current financial crisis,” Chang Boyang said. “I believe there may be more deaths because some of the parents might not even report the cases to the government.”

The ministry said it investigated 11 possible deaths related to melamine-tainted milk and ruled five of them out.

It did not give further details nor say whether the three earlier reported deaths were included in the new total.

The ministry said it checked into babies who died before Sept. 10, and that between then and last Thursday, no new deaths were reported.

By last Thursday, 861 babies were still hospitalized with kidney problems caused by contaminated milk.

Will Ma crush the Strawberries?

Wednesday, Dec 03, 2008, Page 8

The Wild Strawberry Student Movement, it seems, has had enough of the government beating around the bush. On Sunday, it will attempt to bring the debate over the Assembly and Parade Law (集會遊行法) to a head by rallying about 1,000 people to demonstrate without a police permit.

As the marchers head down Ketagalan Boulevard to the Presidential Office, the government and police will be forced to come down against a sensible exercise in civil disobedience or send the message that demonstrating without a permit will be tolerated. The organizers have advertised well in advance that they intend to break the law, which is nothing more than a relic of the Martial Law era and a blemish on Taiwan’s democracy that should have been amended long ago.

The government could be tempted to respond. After all, doing so would only require pointing to the law books and claiming that it is bound to abide by them.

But the Wild Strawberries have an advantage. They have won support and sympathy with their weeks-long show of determination by demonstrating peacefully at Liberty Square in front of National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall since the visit of Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin (陳雲林). They have also sent a message that members of a younger generation often labeled as apathetic and spoiled — the “strawberry generation” — have passionate opinions about the course their country is taking.

The students have, furthermore, made efforts to be non-partisan. Their message is that anyone who values the nation’s democracy, regardless of political affiliation, should not stand for the assembly law as it exists today. They have sent invitations for their activities to politicians across party lines and have promised not to allow any symbols of political affiliation at this weekend’s demonstration.

All of this means that the government and police should think twice before attempting to enforce the assembly law on Sunday, at a time when the reputation of both is under scrutiny.

The integrity of the police has been under attack since its questionable response to demonstrations during Chen’s visit, and overzealous police chiefs have since been promoted despite employing heavy-handed measures.

At the same time, President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration is having a difficult time defending itself against allegations that range from influencing prosecutors to intimidating the media.

On Sunday, the Judicial Reform Foundation leveled criticism at prosecutors for leaking information to the press, possibly to influence public opinion on certain cases. The foundation also accused prosecutors of singling out pan-green figures for arbitrary detention in violation of their rights. Just one day later came a scathing rebuttal from foreign academics to Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng’s (王清峰) defense of the prosecutors’ actions.

Much to the chagrin of the Ma administration, the doubt cast on its dedication to human rights is not melting away. These questions have even stolen thunder from the money-laundering allegations against the former first family. This, at a time when the government hoped to score sorely needed points as details of the case emerge.

If the Ma administration is concerned about the allegations against its integrity, it should neither ask police to enforce the objectionable elements of the assembly law on Sunday nor turn a blind eye to the rally. Instead, it should recognize the significance of the Wild Strawberries’ gesture and show its dedication through an expeditious overhaul of the assembly law.