I hate to keep hammering away at this, but until Chinese companies stop trying to poison the rest of the world, the NY Times and Logipundit are going to keep talking about it. Turns out toothpaste made in China is more fit for unfriendly neighborhood dogs than for kids, but that doesn’t stop Chinese companies from marketing their toxic toothpaste for children.

Panamanian authorities said they believed the tainted toothpaste found in their country, containing up to 4.6 percent diethylene glycol, came from China.

Executives from both companies under investigation in China denied in interviews on Monday that they had exported any toothpaste containing diethylene glycol to Panama.

“We didn’t do this; we didn’t make the bad stuff,” said Shi Lei, a manager at Danyang City Success. “It was probably someone else.“

But Ms. Shi and other toothpaste makers in this region said that diethylene glycol had been used in toothpaste in China for years and that producers believed it was not very harmful.

Government investigators arrived here just days after customs officials in Panama said that they had discovered diethylene glycol in 6,000 tubes of toothpaste. The toothpaste was being sold under the English brand names Mr. Cool and Excel.

There have been no reports of deaths tied to toothpaste containing the chemical.

Dr. Douglas Throckmorton, deputy director for the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the F.D.A., said diethylene glycol levels found in some Panamanian toothpaste was nearly 50 times greater than what is deemed safe. “Kids swallow toothpaste,” Dr. Throckmorton said. “That is going to be a concern to you.”

An old and prevalent story about human rights in China

The Southern Cathedral, which was established in 1716, owned the land and ran a Catholic primary school there before the Communists took power in 1949. The building was confiscated by the Communist Party in 1952, when it was turned into a state school.

In the 1980s, the Chinese government began to return confiscated church property to its rightful owners, but many convents, schools and hospitals were not returned. The state-run school moved several years ago, and recently city authorities sold the land to a developer. At the time of the attack, the diocese and the local government were arguing the case in a Xi’an court.

On Nov. 22, the nuns had stopped workers from demolishing the school. However, the next night a work crew arrived after dark and began to tear down the building. A group of nuns ran out to stop the workers, but were attacked by about 40 thugs, carrying wooden batons with white towels wrapped around their wrists.

Rejection rates of Chinese food imports 25x those of Canada…wow. That’s not a rounding error.

I’m glad to see this matter receiving more attention as of late. I can’t say that I have a lot of faith in the Chinese government to clean up their act with regards to ensuring no tainted food leaves their country. Nor do I anticipate the FDA doing anything respect-worthy. Sadly, it may take a catastrophie to get the wheels turning here.

I think the authors here are all familiar with Human Rights Watch, I’ve linked to their report on China. A long and worthy read.

Human rights conditions in China deteriorated significantly in 2006. Authorities greeted rising social unrest—marked at times by violent confrontation between protesters and police—with stricter controls on the press, internet, academics, lawyers, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

Also, China is forcibly resettling Tibetans
.

If the ruling elite of a country cares this little for the rights and welfare of it’s own citizens, what do they care for the products they export to us foreigners?

Congratulations to Bob Odom, for taking time out of his busy schedule to do his job. As politics trend further toward federalism, states will have to take more initiative to keep their citizens safe.

Last week, the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce announced it had ordered a halt to the sale of Chinese catfish in Mississippi grocery stores after tests found ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin, members of the fluoroquinolones family of antibiotics, which are banned for use in the United States.

The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries conducted similar tests and last month placed a stop-sale order on all catfish imported from China. Commissioner Ron Sparks said 14 of 20 Chinese catfish samples had tested positive for fluoroquinolones.

Last week, U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, an Arkansas Democrat, said that he has asked the FDA to ban imported Chinese fish being sold as catfish until an investigation is complete.

Catfish Farmers of America, a trade group based in Jackson, Mississippi, says fluoroquinolones “can cause serious side effects including nerve, muscle and heart problems, as well as allergic reactions.” Resistance to fluoroquinolones also can develop rapidly, causing possibly life-threatening consequences for some consumers, the catfish trade group said.

Anyone till craving Chinese crawfish?

Oh, yeah, and an epidemic in south China is causing pigs to bleed through their bodies…

Hong Kong television broadcasts and newspapers were full of lurid accounts today of pigs staggering around with blood pouring from their bodies in Gaoyao and neighboring Yunfu, both in Guangdong Province. The Apple Daily newspaper said that as many as 80 percent of the pigs in the area had died, that panicky farmers were selling ailing animals at deep discounts and that pig carcasses were floating in a river.

The reports in Hong Kong said the disease began killing pigs after the Chinese New Year celebrations in February, and is now spreading. But state-controlled news outlets in China have reported almost nothing about the pig deaths, and very little about the wheat gluten problem.

So I don’t have time to explain but gosh look at this story.

Chinese diethylene glycerol (a component of anti-freeze) is finding it’s way in medicine all across the world, sometimes with the help of western firms. Next time you hear complaints about “big” drug companies, consider the cost of cutting corners.

Awww…China is offended.

Taiwan is making friends with St. Lucia and Suriname. Baby steps.

Global Voices Online

China keeps playing keep away with WHO/WHA status. Chen was smart to use this straightforward approach now as the spotlight is on China. Hope they at least get WHA status, which is what Chen is realistically shooting for.

While urging the WHO to submit Taiwan’s application to the WHA next month, Chen called on Taiwan’s political parties and its people to unite and fight against “China’s suppression” after being asked to comment on the Democratic Progressive Party’s presidential primary.

“China’s suppression of the collective human rights of the 23 million people of Taiwan is the important issue. In comparison, the DPP’s presidential primary is nothing,” he said.

Echoing Chen’s remarks that the country has every right to apply to join the WHO as a full member, pro-independence panelists in a forum yesterday said that Taiwan should continue seeking the full WHO membership using the name “Taiwan.”

Taiwan was supposed to be the last leg on the international torch relay. Once China started claiming it was the first stop on the Chinese relay, Taiwan reneged.

At a separate event, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday said it was the government’s policy that Taiwan must not be insulted or belittled through welcoming the Olympic torch.

“Taiwan is a member of the International Olympic Committee. As a member of the committee, we must be treated equally and with respect,” Su said. “Unfortunately, China has been seeking all kinds of opportunities to degrade and belittle us. This is unacceptable.”

It’s not often I’m in the same boat with CSPI, but I’m jumping in with both feet here.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates health and food safety, recommended that the FDA bar the import of grains from China. “If U.S. pets must serve as the ‘puppies in the coal mine,’ we urge FDA to heed the warning and take action now to ban grains and other grain products until the Chinese government and producers can guarantee that these imports are free of illegal and dangerous substances,” the group said in a written statement…