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02-07-2008, 05:57 PM
China urges calm in 'gyoza' scare
Wednesday, February 6, 2008 at 05:00 EST
BEIJING — The Chinese government on Tuesday urged the Japanese media to report food poisoning incidents linked to Chinese-made dumplings in a calm and level-headed manner and not to jump to conclusions about its cause.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said he understands the concern about the case in Japan, but the authorities are adopting the correct approach in dealing with the matter in a calm and scientific way to find out exactly what happened.
"This is an individual case and it should not affect on our two countries' relations," he said.
Liu urged Japan's media not to jump to conclusions until investigations were finished. "First of all, we should take a reasonable mentality. We should not draw premature conclusions before investigations are complete. That is not a reasonable mentality," he said.
China — Japan's largest trading partner and second-biggest supplier of imported food — has denied Japanese allegations that the dumplings themselves contained pesticides but has pledged cooperation in the investigation.
It has shut down the company — Tianyang Food Plant in north China's Hebei province — blamed for producing the suspect foods, state media reported earlier.
It also sent an inspection team to Japan and Chinese officials have in turn held talks with a visiting Japanese team that arrived on Monday and was taken to the factory for an inspection, Liu said.
"As you can see, China has taken a series of measures and has cooperated with Japan," Liu said.
The global reputation of China's vital manufacturing industry was seriously damaged last year by a string of overseas safety scandals and product recalls involving the country's export goods.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008 at 05:00 EST
BEIJING — The Chinese government on Tuesday urged the Japanese media to report food poisoning incidents linked to Chinese-made dumplings in a calm and level-headed manner and not to jump to conclusions about its cause.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said he understands the concern about the case in Japan, but the authorities are adopting the correct approach in dealing with the matter in a calm and scientific way to find out exactly what happened.
"This is an individual case and it should not affect on our two countries' relations," he said.
Liu urged Japan's media not to jump to conclusions until investigations were finished. "First of all, we should take a reasonable mentality. We should not draw premature conclusions before investigations are complete. That is not a reasonable mentality," he said.
China — Japan's largest trading partner and second-biggest supplier of imported food — has denied Japanese allegations that the dumplings themselves contained pesticides but has pledged cooperation in the investigation.
It has shut down the company — Tianyang Food Plant in north China's Hebei province — blamed for producing the suspect foods, state media reported earlier.
It also sent an inspection team to Japan and Chinese officials have in turn held talks with a visiting Japanese team that arrived on Monday and was taken to the factory for an inspection, Liu said.
"As you can see, China has taken a series of measures and has cooperated with Japan," Liu said.
The global reputation of China's vital manufacturing industry was seriously damaged last year by a string of overseas safety scandals and product recalls involving the country's export goods.