The head of China’s product quality agency, Li Changjiang (李長江), stepped down yesterday, as the number of confirmed cases of sickened children in a toxic milk scandal skyrocketed to 53,000.
The State Council accepted Li’s resignation, Xinhua news agency said.
The health ministry released new figures yesterday showing that 52,857 children had fallen sick after drinking milk powder contaminated with melamine. Four children have died from the milk powder and 12,892 children remain hospitalized with kidney problems, the ministry said.
Wu Xianguo (吳顯國), the top communist party official of Shijiazhuang — where tainted milk powder first surfaced from the Sanlu brand headquartered there — was removed from his post, Xinhua said in a separate article.
In Hong Kong, meanwhile, the government approved a law yesterday limiting melamine in food.
The regulation on melamine concentration, which takes effect today, was stricter than those imposed by the EU and the US, said York Chow (周一嶽), secretary for food and health.
But he said lawmakers had to allow room for a tiny amount of the chemical because of “migration” from plastic containers and environmental pollution.
Under the law, suppliers or food traders will be prosecuted if they import food products for infants or pregnant women with melamine concentration exceeding 1 milliliter per kilogram.
Chow also said Hong Kong would offer free checks for children who have consumed tainted dairy products at 25 clinics and assessment centers starting today.
Authorities had come under fire yesterday for opening only one hospital for the checks.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
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