This information has angered many and some mainland Chinese argue that the shame of their nation’s food safety monitoring system has exceeded the honor of its hosting the recent Olympics.
After reading the article, one reader commented, “Certain leaders will never have to risk drinking poisonous milk formula, because of their rank and position.”
Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that on September 21 (Sunday), Internet forums in mainland China reprinted a speech from Shandong Ke’er Biomedical. It included a speech made by Zhu Yonglan, Director of the Special Food Supply Center for State Council Party and State Organizations at the licensing ceremony. She mentions that special food suppliers catering to the nation’s leaders have spread to 13 provinces and municipalities across the country. These facilities supply senior cadres safe foods that do not have any chemical additives or preservatives. These foods do not employ genetic engineering technology, and they are more nutritious and richer in fiber, trace elements and minerals than the food consumed by the populace at large.
Zhu emphasized that the chosen foods must pass animal quality inspections, as well as functional verification tests and other health related measures according to authority standards.
“On the safety aspect, all food products produced by these facilities are specifically required to undergo GPM (Government Process Management) national certification and ISO09000 quality system certification. They must be reviewed and comprehensively assessed by experts,” Zhu claimed, “In the end, our expert team will assess it based on various data.”
In an interview with RFA, Ke’er’s director, Che, he indicated that their healthier food has already been chosen to supply the State Council. “Specially supplied food for the central government agencies means they are directly and specially supplied, with designated production and sales,” Che said.
In the interview, Che confirmed that the food his company produces received special treatment and was mainly supplied for Chinese leaders. He assured that his product did not contain any of the harmful substances often found in the nation’s food supply.
“If it is harmful, will Premier Wen Jiabao use it? Its safety level is the highest in the country,” Che said.
Some say that this proves the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime has long known about the country’s food safety issue. According to a report by Sound of Hope Radio Network, Chinese officials have been using tax payer money to protect their own food safety and health, while turning a blind eye to the well-being of the people. Many believe that this dereliction of duty reveals yet another instance of the CCP corruption and privilege.
“The CCP has once again covered up the truth, and cheated the public. There have demonstrated too many examples of this. They only crack down on small-scale companies, but always turn a blind eye to larger corporations, large enterprises or national distributors. For their own cadres, veteran cadres and leaders still in office, they have only been consuming food that has been in strict accordance with international safety standards or better. But as for the well-being of the masses, they often showed no concern, and have helped to cover up the true situation. This is as true in the matter of food safety, as it is in countless other aspects,” comments Mr. Sun from Yantai City in Shandong Province.
“They spend taxpayer money to protect their own health, yet turn a blind eye to the health of the ordinary people. How could we not be angry?” asks Mr. Shen from Guiyang City in Guizhou Province. “This kind of thing should be condemned by the people in a modern civilized society, and should not exist.”
Professor Hu Xingdou from the Beijing Institute of Technology comments that nation’s recently revealed tainted dairy products reflected a problem of much deeper level. He believes that for a long time, Chinese authorities have set economy polarism as the guiding ideology for the country’s growing economy, which in turn has led to the moral collapse of the entire society. Moreover, he says the nation suffers from both a lack of efficient political reform and an unbiased media to monitor the system. “When this incident took place, there was no independent review, merely an in-house investigation,” comments Hu.
