Pesticide-laced Chinese dumplings that sickened at least 10 people in Japan and triggered a nationwide scare were probably poisoned deliberately, the Japanese health minister said yesterday.
The frozen dumplings, produced by China's Tianyang Food Processing, were contaminated with the pesticide methamidophos and blamed for a string of poisonings in December and last month.
Investigators, however, have found traces of the pesticide on the outside of the dumplings, rather than in the filling. The poison was also found in much higher concentrations than would be expected from residue from pesticides sprayed on vegetables.
Japanese Health Minister Yoichi Masuzoe said that pointed to deliberate poisoning, rather than accidental contamination.
"Judging from the circumstantial evidence, we'd have to think that it's highly likely to be a crime," he said. "That means we must let police investigate and I hope the case would be resolved through our cooperation with China."
A Japanese government delegation has launched an investigation in China, where they were meeting with their counterparts. The group will seek to visit the dumpling factory where the food was produced.
About 20 top police investigators from the areas where the poisonings took place gathered in Tokyo yesterday to discuss the dumpling probe.
Tsuyoshi Yoneda, head of the Criminal Affairs Bureau at the National Police Agency, said the case was a "serious threat to food safety in our country."
In addition to the 10 confirmed victims, more than 1,200 people have reported becoming ill after eating Tianyang products, though no link with the pesticide in the additional cases has been proven.
Authorities have ordered the recall of millions of bags of dumplings and other foods made by Tianyang, while many stores and restaurants in Japan have stopped offering Chinese products altogether.
Traces of the insecticide were found in the dumplings, on the packaging and in the vomit of the 10 people who were sickened. Investigators in western Japan also found traces on six bags of the dumplings recalled over the weekend.
Punctures were found in a handful of bags that were recalled or tied to the poisonings.
China's product safety agency conducted tests on the ingredients of Tianyang dumplings from the same batch sent to Japan, but found none of the insecticide cited by Japanese authorities.
Japanese officials urged caution against jumping to conclusions about the source of the contamination.
Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said hasty remarks could damage fragile bilateral relations with China.
‘LAGGING BEHIND’: The NATO secretary-general called on democratic allies to be ‘clear-eyed’ about Beijing’s military buildup, urging them to boost military spending NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte mentioning China’s bullying of Taiwan and its ambition to reshape the global order has significance during a time when authoritarian states are continuously increasing their aggression, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. In a speech at the Carnegie Europe think tank in Brussels on Thursday, Rutte said Beijing is bullying Taiwan and would start to “nibble” at Taiwan if Russia benefits from a post-invasion peace deal with Ukraine. He called on democratic allies to boost defense investments and also urged NATO members to increase defense spending in the face of growing military threats from Russia
LEAP FORWARD: The new tanks are ‘decades more advanced than’ the army’s current fleet and would enable it to compete with China’s tanks, a source said A shipment of 38 US-made M1A2T Abrams tanks — part of a military procurement package from the US — arrived at the Port of Taipei early yesterday. The vehicles are the first batch of 108 tanks and other items that then-US president Donald Trump announced for Taiwan in 2019. The Ministry of National Defense at the time allocated NT$40.5 billion (US$1.25 billion) for the purchase. To accommodate the arrival of the tanks, the port suspended the use of all terminals and storage area machinery from 6pm last night until 7am this morning. The tanks are expected to be deployed at the army’s training
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
RSS