Communist China

“1,340 rescued from forced labor
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-08-13 18:22


TAIYUAN -- A total of 1,340 people, 367 of whom are mentally handicapped, have been rescued from forced labor since the notorious brick kiln forced labor scandal came to light in June, a joint investigation group reported on Monday afternoon.

During the campaign to crack down on illegal kilns, mines and workshops, 277,000 work units with 12.67 million workers were inspected, said Sun Baoshu, vice minister of Labor and Social Security and head of the investigation group, which represents the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the Ministry of Public Security and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions.

Police found that 67,000, or 24.2 percent of the kilns, mines and workshops inspected nationwide were operating without licenses.

They registered 185,000 cases during the inspection, more than half of which concerned employing workers without contracts and, in 37 percent of the cases, the owner failed to provide workers with social security insurance.

One hundred and forty seven people were arrested and some 98,000 working units which used uncontracted workers were ordered to sign the contracts with 1.5 million workers and pay overdue salaries and compensation totaling 130 million yuan (US$17m).

The use of forced laborers hit the headlines after more than 400 parents in central China's Henan Province posted an online petition, calling for help in rescuing their children who had been kidnapped to work in small brick kilns in Shanxi and Henan as forced laborers.

An employee of a brick kiln at the center of the forced labor scandal has been sentenced to death for manslaughter and unlawful detention, the foreman was sentenced life imprisonment and boss of the kiln was given a jail term of nine years. A total of 95 Party officials in Shanxi have been punished in the wake of the slave-like labor scandal.


http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-08/13/content_6024799.htm”

“I geuss I cant get too worked up seeing as nearly everything sold here is made in China. I did go 18 months without buying anything made there, that was almost 10yrs back. It was hard then,nearly impossible now.

*edit - my bricks were made locally. I reckon slaves made my cloths and other stuff.
last edited: 8/13/07 5:53:44 PM”

“I heard on NPR today that the head slaver at the China company that painted all those toys with lead paint was found swinging from his neck in his workshop.”

“I heard that too Nigal. He'd have been shot anyway, just like the politician busted for graft. That I can respect. We could get rid of term limits with that kinda justice.”

“I do my best not to buy chinese. Or Asian, in general.

edit: I do like cfl's though.
last edited: 8/13/07 6:09:51 PM”

“More troubling than toys and other things coming here from China is the amount of food shipped here. I heard on TV that China is the leading supplier of food additives among other things. After what happened with the pet food poisonings, that's not very comforting news.”

“The food additives are pretty scary.”

“I'll be the one to say it. They're out capitalisting the capitalist. Okay, someone had to say it.”

“send a message, quit shopping at walmart.”

“I like shopping at the union free shop.”

“The quality of the Chinese stuff can't compare with US made goods but the bottom line is; the best product for the least amount is the one that will get bought. If the price is right people will compromise the quality some.

I don't think it's fair to label all Chinese products as slave made either because little of it is. I don't have much conscience when buying Chinese products because when you think about it it's helping those who need it the most. I'd rather buy something that is going to help Chin Wa buy his family rice for the week than to buy something that is going to pay some fatass union workers bass boat payment.”

“Good for growing that Chinese military too.”

“The Communist Government in China doesn`t care,here`s yet another example..mind you they`ll pretend to care and make an example of people but ultimately it`s a game of "scapegoat"


Chinese-made hotel toothpaste recalled in Canada after toxic chemical found
Mon Aug 13, 7:16 PM



By Pat Hewitt

ADVERTISEMENT

(CP) - Canadian consumers are being asked to check their medicine chests after a voluntary recall was issued for a Chinese-made toothpaste distributed in some Canadian hotels.


The toothpaste could contain a harmful chemical found in antifreeze.


Indianapolis-based Gilchrist & Soames, which supplies toiletries to about 400 hotels in North America and the Caribbean along with other hotels worldwide, is recalling the small, complimentary tubes of toothpaste made by China-based Ming Fai Enterprises International Co. Ltd.


The tainted product comes in 18-millilitre tubes with the brand name "Gilchrist & Soames" on it. There is no expiry date but the tubes are stamped "Made in China."


Health Canada said Monday a dozen hotels in Canada are among 424 worldwide that carried the toothpaste.


There has been no reports of poisoning from the toothpaste in the United States and Canada.


Hotels in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Bermuda, Barbados, Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates are being asked by the company to destroy any remaining inventory of the toothpaste.


Company president Kathie De Voe said in an interview from Indianapolis Monday that after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sent out an alert June 1 about some Chinese-made toothpaste containing diethylene glycol, or DEG. The chemical could be toxic to the kidneys and liver.


De Voe said her company started investigating whether its products were affected. It sent out letters to its customers June 7 about the FDA alert, and told them Gilchrist & Soames would stop shipping its inventory and recommended hotels no longer distribute made-in-China toothpaste in its hotel rooms, she said.


De Voe said initial testing for DEG was negative, but subsequent testing revealed the toxic chemical in some tubes of Gilchrist & Soames toothpaste.


"As soon as we saw one test that came back from our independent test lab here in the U.S. that tested for traces of DEG, we as a company decided to initiate a voluntary recall."


De Voe would not say which hotels in Canada carry Gilchrist & Soames products, nor would she say how many tubes of the toothpaste were shipped to Canada.


"Some product did make it into Canada, but because we have very good records of what is shipped where, we already contacted hotels on June 7th when we heard the alert to warn them," said De Voe.


She said the company contacted its customers last week before the recall was made public Monday.


One of its customers is The Sutton Place Hotel in Toronto.


Sutton Place spokesman Christopher Ashby said, however, the hotel only found out about the product recall on Monday.


"We carry Gilchrist & Soames products as our guest room amenity package and on rare occasion, the dental package is part of it," said Ashby.

"Gilchrist & Soames voluntarily replaced the product that was in question with a new Crest product," Ashby said.

"And that Crest product is the only product that's in our current dental package that is in our Gilchrist & Soames product that goes up to guest rooms. And the dental product is only given on request, it's not part of our standard package."

The FDA has no reports of any poisonings from the toothpaste in the United States, according to a company statement.

In Ottawa, Health Canada spokeswoman Carole Saindon said in an e-mail that the agency has been in contact with Gilchrist & Soames to ensure that the recall is effectively undertaken in Canada.

"Health Canada has not received any reports of adverse reactions as a result of the affected product," wrote Saindon.

But she noted "the number of affected product actually distributed and the number of affected guests is unknown."

Saindon said Health Canada will continue to monitor the recall's effectiveness.

On its website, Gilchrist & Soames bills itself as "the only branded toiletries company dedicated to the luxury hotel market" and is "a leading provider of luxurious hair, bath, and body products for world-class hotels, exclusive resorts, and distinguished spas, inns, and bed & breakfasts."

This is the latest in a series of recalls of Chinese-made products that have been deemed dangerous for consumers. Other Chinese goods recently pulled from the market over safety concerns include children's toys, tires and pet food”

“Buying Chinese food is bad. Buying any offshore food is dangerous, be it foreign or US companies. They go offshore to avoid things like pesticide restrictions.

And I still think only ~1% of food is inspected.

Yum.”

“He'd have been shot anyway, just like the politician busted for graft. That I can respect. - birch

Jeez, leave it to a fundi xtian to be infatuated with eye-for-an-eye frontier justice.”

“Jeez, leave it to a fundi xtian to be infatuated with eye-for-an-eye frontier justice.”


That has nothing to do with christianity,not even close.I suggest you reread the Gospels.”

“Why so much import of food and energy? 12-20 million illegals? Get real and think 60-70 million , but the defeat of the amnesty bill has probably turned the flow negative now,
last edited: 8/14/07 6:43:07 AM”

“I have heard that they are traipsing across the desert in lesser numbers...apparently the Government got the hint and is slowly starting tooo....SHOCK...ENFORCE THE LAWS>”

“Just wait until the whole ethanol sham gets rolling. We'll be buying most of our corn product from overseas and be at the mercy of thier quality standards and market.”

“I fergit, Is China Good or Bad?”

“Communist = Bad”

“Ten really big employers a day
will keep the flood of illies away.”

“And yet you're always saying how great Walmart is SS. You offer direct financial support to China and now you're whining.”

“Y2 is so silly.”

“The irnoic part is that China is not really communist any more. It's unregulated and unmonitored free-market conditions which are leading to these recalls. It's being done entirely for the profit of individuals.”

“Not for the few worldwide elites that want 99% of the populace to be their slaves. No, tell me it isn't true Mr. Bush?”

“I think he makes a very valid point Stovestomper. If you don't like the way the Chinese operate don't buy from their biggest customer. What you posted about is just the tip of the ice burg.”

“I guess KMart, Target, ect. buy no China Goods, Just Wal-Mart.”

“No stovie - but Walmart has been the biggest driver in this area. They've set the agenda that others have to follow or go out of business.
You get low prices, China gets rich on YOUR dollars. For every $20 you hand over at Walmart, China gets a good share. Well done.”

“Don't worry Y2, we will not think less of you if you're spotted in a Discount Store.”

“Well you wouldn't see me in Walmart SS - I don't shop there - and unless they change a whole bunch of their activities then I never will.”

“I buy 'Montana Wheat' whole wheat flour at Walmart, because that's the only place to get it - but that's it at that awful junkyard. Besides it is a tax on the shopper , because a portion of the money made in China comes back to buy our bonds that ,intern , buys our bombs.”

“Good, Y2.
last edited: 8/14/07 11:02:49 AM”

“I just bought some neat trail shoes at Walmart (and you know they even had washed most of the blood from the children who made the shoes off)....”