Lawyers for victims of China’s tainted milk scandal said yesterday the government had warned them not to sue, although three lawsuits had already been filed and more were expected.
The three suits filed separately seek damages over the contamination of dairy supplies with the industrial chemical melamine, which has been blamed for killing four babies and sickening 53,000 children.
However, the courts involved had yet to notify plaintiffs whether the cases would be accepted, while judicial authorities were warning lawyers to back off, Beijing attorney Li Fangping (李方平) said.
The first case was filed in late last month in central Henan Province, said the Shanghai-based attorney in that case, Ji Cheng (季成). He declined further comment.
State media reported last week that another case had been filed in Guangdong Province earlier this month, with the latest suit filed Monday in Gansu Province where the scandal first emerged.
Meanwhile, the Japanese importer of Chinese-made frozen beans containing thousands of times the legal level of pesticide said yesterday that the contamination likely occurred after harvest.
Japan on Wednesday ordered retailers to pull the green beans off shelves after a woman fell ill from eating a product which had 34,500 times the legal limit of pesticide.
Two more people also complained of illness, although test results released yesterday found no abnormal level of pesticides.
The beans’ manufacturer, Yantai Beihai Foodstuff in eastern China, said it did not believe the company was responsible.
The Philippines yesterday said its coast guard would acquire 40 fast patrol craft from France, with plans to deploy some of them in disputed areas of the South China Sea. The deal is the “largest so far single purchase” in Manila’s ongoing effort to modernize its coast guard, with deliveries set to start in four years, Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan told a news conference. He declined to provide specifications for the vessels, which Manila said would cost 25.8 billion pesos (US$440 million), to be funded by development aid from the French government. He said some of the vessels would
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Hundreds of thousands of Guyana citizens living at home and abroad would receive a payout of about US$478 each after the country announced it was distributing its “mind-boggling” oil wealth. The grant of 100,000 Guyanese dollars would be available to any citizen of the South American country aged 18 and older with a valid passport or identification card. Guyanese citizens who normally live abroad would be eligible, but must be in Guyana to collect the payment. The payout was originally planned as a 200,000 Guyanese dollar grant for each household in the country, but was reframed after concerns that some citizens, including
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