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Bottled water leads to more doubts over food safety


Half of Beijing¡¯s bottled water is unsafe

¡¡¡¡According to the Beijing Times newspaper¡¯s lengthy report on Monday, an anonymus sales manager of an unnamed bottled water company was quoted as saying that there were 100 million bottles of bottled water sold in Beijing last year, and the brands from Wahaha, Robust, Nestle and Yanjing¡¯s sales numbers totaed 25-30 million.

¡¡¡¡¡°However, there were around 20,000 water distribution stations in Beijing, and each has at least sold 1,000 bottles of water per month, which means the annual sales of bottled water reached 200 mllion. Therefore, half of the bottled water is counterfeit,¡± he said. The reason for the widespread amount of fake bottled water on the market is because a barrel of fake water costs only 2.5 yuan to three yuan, while the real ones cost at least 6 yuan each, according to the report. The profit margin is obviously higher by selling fake products.

Intl companies shun HBV carriers

¡¡¡¡You might not complain if you were denied in a job application for health reasons, such as SARS and tuberculosis, however, you would not like it if it were for hepatitis B Virus (HBV).



¡¡¡¡Nowadays, HBV has become a big obstacle to the education, work and even marriages of carriers.

¡¡¡¡An employment report on HBV carriers released by the Fund for Hepatitis Prevention and Treatment of China (FHPTC) recently shows that around 80 percent of the foreign companies in China refuse to hire HBV carriers. Ninety-six percent of them require an HBV test before employing a person.

¡¡¡¡The survey, according to Beijing Youth Daily reports, was conducted among the human resource departments of 115 subsidiaries or joint ventures of 98 multinational companies in mainland China, most of which are located in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai Hangzhou, and Guangdong.

¡¡¡¡It turned out that 77 percent of the human resource departments of these companies said that they would not recruit people carrying HBV. And this included the human resource departments of Motorola, Siemens, Philips, Foxconn, Sony and Samsung.

Hobbles and hurdles

The Hua Tian Phenomenon

¡¡¡¡Recently, images of Hua, an Eton schoolboy, on horseback have graced the front pages of many Chinese newspapers. The teen is the first Chinese rider registered by the International Equestrian Federation and is also the nation¡¯s first rider to compete in an international equestrian competition

¡¡¡¡Hua aims to represent his country at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and in doing so will not only be one of the youngest riders ever to compete in a Summer Games, but also the first person of Chinese heritage to do so.

¡¡¡¡As the host country of the Olympics, China is given six berths in equestrian, four in jumping, one in dressage and one in eventing. All Chinese riders have to do is qualify.

¡¡¡¡¡°As long as Alex has the right horse, he is closer o qualifying for the Olympics than anyone else,¡± Clayton Fredericks, 2005 World Cup champion, and also Hua¡¯s coach, sd.

First Chinese awarded chieftain in Nigeria

¡¡¡¡Fang is the project manager of an electric power construction company in Shandong province. In September 2004, Fang was dispatched to Nigeria to build a gas turbine power plant, Papalanto, in Ogun, Nigeria. The plant is the largest electricity project between the two countries. With the power station complete on June 2, the state finally had their first power plant.

¡¡¡¡To express the appreciation of the company, Fang was coronated as olu by the state oba Akamo with the title of ¡°Baamole¡± (¡°bright envoy¡± in English) in his domain-feudal Itori Egbaland area. Therefore, Fang became one of the 26 chieftains in Itori Egbaland area and the only Chinese chieftain in Niger¡°Th state has an electricity network, but because of severe shortage of electricity, power cuts occupied over half of each day. So, local people are very excited to have their first power station,¡± Fang said. Besides the new title, Fang was also awarded the hereditary right to control over 300,000 square meters of land in the Itori Egbaland area.

¡¡¡¡Coronation ceremony

¡¡¡¡Fang said chieftain coronated in Nigeria is very ceremonious and religious. ¡°Before the ceremony started, I was asked to a room to put on a chieftain costume with a headgear and crosier, after the prayer ceremony inside, I kneeled on my hands and knees to the oba,¡± Fang said.When going outside, there was a koradji to give Fang a baptism. ¡°The koradji took a leaf, put a little water on it and splashed it over my head.¡±¡°The most surprising event during the ceremony was when a local resident snapped live pigeon¡¯s neck and put the pigeon¡¯s head at my feet, then, he bit the pigeon¡¯s neck and did circles around me,¡± Fang saiDuring the ceremony, he was awarded the chieftain crosier, chieftain certificate and land certificate. Local residents presented various fruits as a gift to express their gratitude to their Chinese chieftain.

Progress or ¡®sham democracy¡¯

¡¡¡¡A lot of people are familiar with the recent Chongqing ¡°nail house¡± case which saw authorities and real estate developerembarrassed under the media spotlight. To avoid a similar furore, one brilliant mind has come up with a solution for impending demolition work in Jiuxianqiao, an old quarter of the city in northeastern Beijing near the 798 art district ¨C voting



¡¡¡¡The voting proposal has supporters and detractors, some calling it democracy, others saying it¡¯s a sham that will trample on the few who refuse to be relocated.

¡¡¡¡By Han Manman

¡¡¡¡Eighty-one-year old Zhang Xidi was one of the very first groups of workers to settle in the Jiuxianqiao area, which is dotted with collective dormitories built in the 1950s. Answering a government call to dedicate their youth to the country, young workers like Zhang accepted whatever accommodation that was available without complaint about size or condition. Nearly 50 years later, this group of seniors still lives in the same shabby and cramped housing.

¡¡¡¡During a June 9 ¡°people¡¯ s referendu¡± Zhang voted against redevelopment proposals. ¡°I rejected them not because I don¡¯t want to move out from this old building; it¡¯s jbecause I could not accept the developers¡¯ compensation plan,¡± Zhang said. Zhang only earned 28,000 yuan in total over a 31 year working career. Yet she would have to pay or 110,000 yuan to get a new apartment. ¡°I could never earn that much in my whole life,¡± said Zhang. Many seniors and laid-off workers fe the same problem.

Massive child slave labor case exposed

¡¡A group of fathers in Henan Province find themselves linked by the same cruel fate that has befallen their families. Their sons were kidnapped by child traffickers and sold to work in unlicensed brick kilns in distant Shanxi as slave labor. The fathers have spared no expense and taken great personal risks to visit the remote mountains in search of their missing children. Some 40 boys have been rescued by their fathers within a two month period. The fathers took their story to the local authorities, but found none willing to take up their case and indeed apparent collusion with the kiln operators.



¡¡¡¡Last week more than 400 despairing fathers from Henan jointly launched an online appeal to help locate their missing sons, kidnapped by child traffickers and sold to Shanxi province to work as slave labor.

¡¡¡¡Fu Zhenzhong, a reporter from Henan TV station visited Shanxi three times after first receiving a tip on May 9, producing a series of video reports exposing the ugly truth of the enslaved children¡¯s plight. After the series was broadcast on June 9, Henan police put a rescue operation in motion

Troubled teen survives jump to expose boot camp

¡¡Xiaozhi (pseudonym) allegedly jumped and fell to the lobby on April 27, after taking four grams of the chemical ¡°purple salt¡± a crystalline compound used as an oxidizing agent and disinfectant that is not to be taken orally. It was almost two months after Feng Qiuju, his mother, had sent him to the Dadongfang Drill School, because of the boy¡¯s Internet addiction.¡°I wasn¡¯t sure if the drug could alleviate the pain in my back and waistThe worst case scenario was that I could at least see my parents if I made it to the hospital,¡± Xiaozhi said.

¡¡¡¡The mother got a call from the camp that morning and was told that her son had fallen and hurt himself. She took a plane and arrived several hours after the accident and found her son at Southwest Hospital, where the doctors found his esophagus burnt by the chemical and his right arm broken. There were also cuts on his upper lip and jaw.

¡¡¡¡To the mother¡¯s urprise, she also found old scars on her son¡¯s legs, waist, chest and shoulders, with one on the right arm as long as several centimeters. The shock of these additional marks prompted he to call the local police.

NCOH alledgedly brushed away millions

¡¡¡¡¡®Funds for cetifications?

¡¡¡¡P&G China allegedly contributed a donation of 10 million yuan (US$1.25 million) after the committee endorsed one of its products. The committee certified a Crest toothpaste product in 2002, and the company used the certification in its product advertising.

¡¡¡¡The company has clarified that they had donated the money to the China Oral Health Foundation (COHF) and that the donation had nothing to do with the NCOH¡¯s endorsing ofits toothpaste.

¡¡¡¡Gao Jiasi, from P&G China¡¯s public affair department, said that the company had donated money to the foundation between 1994 and 1997. The total sum reached 10 million yuan, eight million (US$ 1 million)of which remains in the foundation¡¯s bank account. The rest had been spent on campaigns in the last several years to promote public awareness for oral health. ¡°COHF elaborated on where all the donations had gone at ts annual board meeting. This is how we know how the foundation spent the money,¡± Gao said.Yet, the foundation did have close connection to the committee.

No room for the past in the future

¡¡¡¡Manual loading and unloading are the most traditional and primitive practices still used on the docks in the Three Gorges region. With the rising water level in the reservoir, dozens of docks in the region have been submerged and relocated. At the new docks, manual labor is gradually being replaced by machinery in loading and unloading.



¡¡¡¡The old way persists on the Wujiang River, a tributary of the Yangtze. However, luck ran out on Wednesday for docks in the ancient riverside town Gongtan, Chongqing, when the entire town was forced to relocate and be submersed for the construction of a hydropower dam in the lower reaches of the Wujing River.

¡¡¡¡It¡¯s hard to imagine how much bitterness Gongtan has experienced in its 1,700-year history, but its greatest catastrophe yet is on its way. The hug dam will make Gogntan¡¯s traditional lifestyle vanish by the end of the year: the pure and strong folk customs, the suspension houses along the river, the old lanes made of black stone, the bridges and the old banyan tree. Allthese will become history, never to return. No boat will bring tourists.

First Yangtze report calls for protection

¡¡¡¡More than 1,000 kilometers of land alongside China¡¯ ¡°mother river,¡± the Yangtze, e polluted, according to the Yangtze Conservation and Development Report, issued by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences at the second Yangtze Forum in Changsha, Hunan, last week.



¡¡¡¡The protection of the river, the world¡¯s third longest, has long been a focus of both government and media. In 2005, the government launched the first Yangtze forum in Wuhan and made the decision t hold another forum every two years.

¡¡¡¡This year, focusing on the Yangtze River and Dongting Lake, the three-day forum drew together government officials, NGO representatives, businesses and experts from 20 countries. The Yangtze Conservation and Development Report, the first-ever comprehensive report examining the ¡°health¡± of the Yangtz was released at the forum.

¡¡¡¡¡°The report objectively and systematically probed into the pst, current and future situation of the river¡¯s conservation and development, which is important for the conservation of the Yangtze during development,¡± Dermot O¡¯Gorman, country representative of WWF China, saiAccording to the report, the Yangtze is being hit by natural disasters, a deterioration of water quality and a loss of biodiversity. Almost 30 percent of its major tributaries are heavily polluted by ammonia, nitrogen and phosphorus. Only last year, more than 26 billion tons of wastewater were pumped into the river, which runs through 11 provinces and municipalities.

Vanished without a word

¡¡¡¡¡°We have to steal at least 500 yuan a day. If we don¡¯t, we¡¯ll be punished: they will stab us with needles of slash our hands,¡± a 16-year-old deaf-mute studsurnamed Li cried after returning home.



¡¡¡¡The children are told to wear ¡°special clothes.¡± Their lives revolve around criminal activity. Finding the next target to rob is a daily job for the missing deaf-mute students,i said.

¡¡¡¡Over fifteen of these children were recently found after disappearing from Linfen, Shanxi Province, for three months. They all attended the same school: Linfen City Special Education School, a government-run school for blind and deaf-mute children.

¡¡¡¡Looking for the answers behind why they vanished and where they were, Beijing Today, with the help of Xi Yuming, a Beijing Youth Daily reporter who conducted an undercover investigation in Linfen, has unveiled the mystery surrounding the deaf-mute children.

Hocking her golds for food

¡¡¡¡Ai Dongmei joined the Locomotive Sports Team in 1995 and won medals in many domestic and international competitions. In 2003, Ai was forced to retire as athletics had deformed her feet.

¡¡¡¡¡°My coach Wang Dexian told us the team would arrange work opportunities in the Railway department. My formerteammates Guo Ping, Li Juan and I waited for two years. Every time we phoned him, he said they were dealing with it, but when we went to the team¡¯s office for more information, the leader told us it was impossibe to give us work,¡± Ai said.¡°We heard from the team office that we should have been given a prize for winning all the medals, and wages and a subsidy for the daily training. We had ot received any of them,¡± she said.Last September, Ai, together with Guo and Li, sued Wang Dexian in the People¡¯s Court of Haidian District. Ai now lives in Beijing, waiting for her day in court.Ai¡¯s worldAi and her husband wake up at 5 or 6am, and then head to the nearby market to peddle children¡¯s clothes and popcorn. ¡°My daughter gets up with us and plays alone on a tricycle while we do business,¡± Ai sai¡°My monthly income is 320 yuan. My husband, who is also a reired athlete from the Locomotive Sports Team, used to get 300 yuan per month. Since Spring Festival, the team cut him off without notice,¡± Ai sai

No clowning around

¡¡¡¡The case drew attention last week when New Express, a local newspaper, reported that the global fast-food chains were violating labor laws by underpaying part-time workers, most of whom are college students.

¡¡¡¡The southern metropolis set its minimum wage at 7.5 yuan (97 cents) per hour for part-time workers at the beginning of the year, but undercover investigations found that McDonald¡¯s still pays only fur yuan (US$0.52), KFC 4.7 yuan (US$0.61) and Pizza Hut five yuan (US$0.65) per hour to its part-timers.

¡¡¡¡¡°The three fast-food chains hve asked the part-timers to work longer than the maximum five hours a day, deliberately refused to sign labor contracts or insure them against workplace injuries and prolonged their probation periods,¡± Huang Jun (alias) one of the reporters who went undercover and worked part-time at McDonald¡¯s, said.Huang said her newspaper had received many complaints before they began the investigation. ¡°What we¡¯ve uncovered is alarming,¡± she s. About 70 percent of the part-timers are college students, Huang said, ¡°I really wonder how they can manage their studies after such exhausting work.?

Hawker hordes halted

¡¡¡¡Harassed by wall-goers, a grubby, middle-aged woman tore down the slope in a tizzy.

¡¡¡¡¡°You again? Get out of here! I¡¯ve told you agaiand again that hawking is forbidden here!¡± a security guard shouted.¡°I¡¯m not selling anything! I¡¯m going home,¡± she cried as she disappeared into the croThe woman was a street vendor operating at the Badaling section of the Great Wall, Wednesday. Vendors are no longer welcome there.



¡¡¡¡In the past, vendors choked the paths of the wall hawking cheap souvenirs, overpriced drinks, or offering to photograph visitors ¨C for a price. Nowvendors are being forced to set up shops elsewhere.

¡¡¡¡The ban comes as part of of an effort to clean up the wall and reconstruct its safeguards, Li Shuwang, deputy head of the Badaling Special Zone Management Committee, said last Sunday at a news conference. The project will cost 600 million yuan, Li said.

Pet cremation sparks environmental concerns

¡¡¡¡¡°Pets aren¡¯t just for life, they¡¯re forever,¡± Feng Gang (alias), owner of a private pet cremation car who handles animal disposal, said. Private and unauthed, Feng¡¯s Mobile Crematorium has aroused broad concerns about pet disposal, environmental protection and public health. Dealing with dead pets has become an increasingly serious problem. Most are buried in the lawns of residential quarters and public parks, and some are even thrown in the garbage or tossed into local rivers.



¡¡¡¡The city, according to an official surnamed ¡°Zhao¡± from the city¡¯s Association of Small Animal Protectiohas as many as 50 million pet dogs, nearly 60 million pet cats, and over 300,000 strays. Their average life expectancy ranges from 11 to 12 years, she said. Statistics show that the average annual mortality rate is about six percent, and more than 200 pets die from disease or old age every day.

Lead poisoning hospitalizes 34 farmers

¡¡Doctor Fengjing from Occupational Disease Department of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, who conducted checkups for all of 14 children, said, ¡°Blood tests in the final rports showed six cases with a high-level of lead content in their blood, with the remaining cases at mid to low level. So many lead poisoning cases in children, especially in infants, is quite rare. It must be because of severe, nearby environmental pollution.¡±Feng said lead is a neurotoxic metallic element that can be absorbed by the body, primarily through the lungs and stomach. Lead poisoning occurs only when too much lead accumulates in the body. ¡°Generally, lead poisoning occurs slowly, resulting from gradual accumulation of lead in the bone and tissue after repeated exposure However, it is important to note that young children absorb fifty percent of lead ingested while adults absorb only ten percent,? Feng said.

Hospitals bursting under golden pig baby boom

¡¡Many people believe there will be more newborn babies this year than in others, because many Chinese believe giving birth to their first-born during the Year of the Pig will ensure a great future for their family. Those joys and hopes are expected to be the scourge of gynecology and OB departments throughout the year.

¡¡¡¡The Sino-Japanese Hospital¡¯s public relations office told Beijing Today there used to be 25 maternity beds. At he start of the year, the OB department added another ten beds, installing them outside of the maternity ward to meet demand.

¡¡¡¡¡°Generally speaking, the number of women giving birth now is far greater than at the same tme in previous years, the PR office said, ¡°We¡¯ve had to close down outpatient services since we cannot care for more new patients now, but there are still 300-500 people coming for appointments every day.The office also noted that childbirth appointments were almost fully booked this year, a negative result of the myth of the ¡°golden pig baby. Generally speaking, the hospital sees 30 births per day now.

For the sake of the Olympics

¡¡¡¡Standing tall on a wide stretch of land, the chimneys and cooling stacks took a break from belching out smoke and steam in the southeast of Beijing. Coal processing halted, ovens silenced and the factory went mute. You could hear your own breath in the vacant factory.



¡¡¡¡The Beijing Olympic Media Center invited dozens of local and foreign reporters to visit the Beijing Coking and Chemical Works, Tuesday afternoon. The factory has halted production to improve Beijing¡¯s atmosphere in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games.After a 20-minute-journey from Jianguomen we arrived at the factory on the west side of Dong Wuhuan Lu.

¡¡¡¡¡°On July 15 last year we began the process of halting production, and finished the project on July 23 last year,¡± Zhang Xiwen, director of Beijing Coking ad Chemical Works, said during his brief introduction to the production halt, relocation and structural transition.

¡¡¡¡Beijing Coking and Chemical Works was founded in 1958 as a celebration of the tenth anniversary of the People¡¯sRepublic of China, and has served big clients such as the Great Hall of the People, foreign embassies, big hotels and the Zhongnanhai, where the Chinese central government and Chairman Mao Zedong were seated, Zhou Si, general manager of Beijing Fuel Gas Group Co Ltd, said.

¡¡¡¡The Beijing municipal government will make more efforts to reduce energy consumption and phase out energy intensive industries that are highly polluting, including chemical plants and cement factories.

Facing Russia¡¯s deadline

¡¡¡¡Chinese in Russia may lose major earnings, and even their jobs, if a new regulation that prevents foreigners from operating retail businesses in Russia is passed.



¡¡¡¡The regulation targets all foreigners, but hits Chinese hardest. Though many worry about the new regulation, they still cling to hope that the flexible Russian government will relax its proposal before the upcoming deadline.

¡¡¡¡Chinese retailers in Russia have, for many years, been a key export channel for mainland markets. Around a million Chinese people work in Russia, where Chinese-made products have become increasingly popular.

¡¡¡¡However, under a Russian law that took effect on January 15, foreigners were limited to making up no more than 40 percent of the vendors in any given market. A new law that will take effect April 1 would completely ban them from all retail business.

¡¡¡¡The new law, aimed at encouraging Russians to take up jobs in the sector and rid the market of crime rings, would affect some 100,000 Chinese immigrants who work in Russia¡¯s marketsand roadside shops.

¡¡¡¡According to Russia¡¯s Federal Migration Service, one quarter of all foreign nationals in the country are employed at markets. Almost all these traders, together with seasonal workers in other low-pad sectors like construction, are from the former Soviet Union, China and Vietnam.

¡¡¡¡¡°The new regulation is for all foreigners, but the group hit hardest is the Chinese, since many Chinese do retail business in Russia,¡Yu Anlin, chairman of the Zhejiang businessmen¡s association in Russia, said.

Resting up for the eternal yawn

¡¡¡¡¡°I have to congratulate you on having only 10,000 - 20,000 days to live,¡± LWei, 58, president of Songtang Hospice, said as the prologue of his university lectures.



¡¡¡¡Li established China¡¯s first hospice in 1987.Over the last 20 years, he¡¯s said farewell to more than 18,000 patients. ¡°We are fferent, because almost all the patients here are close to death,¡± he said.As an educated youth who was sent from Beijing to Inner Mongolia during Cultural Revolution, Li was helped by a local elementary teacher Zhang, a university professor who was labeled a rightist and sent down to a rural elementary school.

¡¡¡¡When Zhang lay dying in 1970, he felt sad because he never did anything to merit the accusations made against him.

¡¡¡¡To try and give the man some final peace, Li lied to him and told him the Party finally decided to restore his reputation.

¡¡¡¡The experience made him reflect on death.

¡¡¡¡¡°Life is a line, not a circle ¨when you reach the end, there¡¯s nowhere elseto go. The least we can do is to try to make people¡¯s final days a little happier,¡± he saidEarly attempts

UK rubbish dumped on China

¡¡¡¡Plastic waste is now one of Britain¡¯s biggest exports to China. Container ships arrive in Britain from China loaded with consumer goods. Many of them then return-packed full of British waste.



¡¡¡¡Lianjiao, a remote village near Guangzhou, capital of south China¡¯s Guangdong province, was unknown to most of the world until it got caught in trashy business ¨C importingarbage from the UK.

¡¡¡¡Britain¡¯s Sky News TV aired a program titled ¡°Are you poisoning China?¡± last week, revealing how UK plastic waste was ending up in Lianjiao. The report sparked protests and calls for official actioand people were further incensed to learn Maersk Lines, which shipped China-made Christmas presents to Britain, was delivering the toxic payloads to China.

¡¡¡¡The business met its death when the Chinese government ended waste shipments from other countries, yesterday.