Chinese Ordered Cover-Up of Tainted Milk Scandal

China’s government had good reason to be ashamed after more than 50,000 infants fell sick after drinking milk tainted with melamine, a fertilizer ingredient. But the Chinese government’s ordering a cover-up, as reported by the Telegraph, only compounded the crime. Reports of infants falling ill with kidney stones and urinary tract difficulties have emerged since early 2008, but neither the company nor the government issued recalls. “The central government had issued orders to suppress ‘bad news,’ including about health scares, during the period of the Olympic Games,” report Richard Spencer and Peter Foster for the Telegraph. Stores in Africa, Taiwan and Great Britain have since removed Chinese milk from their shelves. A New Zealand firm Fonterra, owns a 43 percent stake in the Chinese dairy Sanlu, and the Fonterra chief executive labels not working "within the guidelines" set by the Chinese authorities as “irresponsible.” But the journalists have other ideas about responsibility, pointing out that the health disaster serves as a warning to Western firms attempting to do business in China. – YaleGlobal