Death sentences in milk scandal
The Herald reports:
The Green party has called on the Government and Fonterra to condemn the death sentences handed down in China to two men involved in the tainted milk scandal.
The two men were sentenced to death yesterday while Tian Wenhua, the woman at the head of Fonterra joint venture Sanlu Group, was given a life sentence by a court in Shijiazhuang.
This is no surprise. In fact Phil Goff back in September said it was “almost certain” that those responsible would be executed. Mind you, I thought such a public statement from the then Trade Minister was somewhat unwise, as it could be read as agreement (unintentionally of course).
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Tags: death penalty, Fonterra, Greens, Phil Goff, Sunlu
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:11 pm
I think there was a bit of frantic repositioning went on with the Greens on this one … earlier RadioNZ reports were as follows:
“Green Party food safety spokesperson Sue Kedgley says the sentences show the Chinese government is taking the scandal seriously. Ms Kedgley says it’s fortunate that officials from New Zealand were not tried.”
Could have been thought that her food safety obsession was causing her to applaud the Chinese actions!
[DPF: One can't rule that out!]
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:14 pm
wow, you must need heaps of hot air to call people out all the time like that. The Greens have become simultanoeusly the most dangerous, and the most boringly ineffectual political party in NZ. Maybe that’s the definition of political irrelevency.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:17 pm
“Maybe that’s the definition of political irrelevency.”
You’ve overlooked Jim Anderton. Not that this is hard to do…
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:19 pm
The Green party has called on the Government and Fonterra ……….
Translation; the Green party, in yet another failed attempt to be relevant, has asked the govt & Fonterra to make fools of themsleves by protesting to China knowing full well that the Chinese Govt will ignore them.
If these dim witted but possibly well meaning greenies really want to change China, I suggest they go there and protest or STFU. Political posturing for posturing sake, fools no one.
It would have been at least sincere if they had just announced their outrage at the decision, written to the Chinese Govt themsleves and at least stood up for their supposed beliefs. Calling on someone else to make the noise for you is BS.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:22 pm
It just occurs to me that the sentence is apt.
Greed is a very funny thing.
This was not a miscalculation, not a mistake, not an accident!
Perhaps more people would stop dicking around with peoples lives for profit. No, sorry cold hard cash actually.
This was a disgrace. WTF thought it was a good idea to crush kitchen worktops and put the crap in baby milk?
Melamine, not a good supplement to baby food.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Fonterra and the New Zealand government dragged their feet over the whole matter.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Fronterra have had a very easy ride on their involvement in the UK media so far.
Old friends network. I think they are culpable.
Time will tell.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:42 pm
I thought that too, AG. Can you imagine the angst in the Greens at the moment. Keith Locke will be secretly angry at Kedgley’s stance, but he can’t say anything to her, because that might be seen as being patrichial or oppressing a woman by condemning her beliefs…Kedgley will have a monumental headache because she has agreed with the Chinese on something…
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Just to juxtaposition the debate. I can imagine the howls of outrage from Clark or Goof or Winston if Key or McCully had made the same comment.
The Goof is exposed as an emperor without any clothes more as each day rolls on. Haven’t heard much from Cunliffe recently …. busily engaged sharpening knives perhaps?
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Yep – though I have no doubt SK was “misquoted”.
They’ll need a bit of media management training, methinks!
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:47 pm
GM is dead right – it was an incredibly callous thing that was done, and the law in China is what it is, and bullets couldn’t go to a more deserving pair of people. I only hope they’ve got the right two people. From what I hear of the Chinese “justice” system that is far from being a given.
NZ is involved in this, and we don’t execute prisoners here, with good reason. So I think it is appropriate for the NZ government to mention to China that we find capital punishment abhorrent and ask them to reconsider this.
January 23rd, 2009 at 1:16 pm
I rather suspect the greens are against the Chinese death sentences but would quite like to have a few kiwi busninessmen shot.
January 23rd, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Glutaemus Maximus
Melamine is not crushed kitchen worktops. It is an ingredient of Formica, that is then used in kitchen worktops. That is a bit like saying toothpaste is made from crushed blackboard chalk.
I am not saying of course the Melamine is a good additive for food.
January 23rd, 2009 at 4:17 pm
GOOF held a powerful and influential position at the time he implied the death penalty would be appropriate, perhaps he didn’t realise how influential he was…Anyway the former Prime Minister still holidaying in an exotic overseas resort would have been well aware of the subtletys of Chinese crime and punishment before she endorsed the Trade Agreement so the process and result is no concern of New Zealand.I am surprised the Herald hasn’t asked her to comment…..Wonder if Fonterra have checked to see if NZ also signed and extradition agreement at the same time….Have we?
January 23rd, 2009 at 6:17 pm
I’d like to know just what Locke believes is an appropriate punishment?
restorative justice? (pfft)
sit around holding hands singing kum ba yah?
What’s appropriate Keith? – unlike you’re stance on Hamas, start giving you’re idea of solutions
– so we can really understand the true extent of your idiocy
January 23rd, 2009 at 9:37 pm
This sentence is good news – it might persude the management of Fonterra to take their job a bit more seriously. They obviously take little interest or care in the job of running the company – like knowing what their investment is actually doing. It gives an indication of their real knowledge of things like the auction system or real environmental cost of dairying – ie: they havent got a bloody clue.
Ill bet none of the senior management ever travel to china again – a nasty surprise might await them.
January 23rd, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Now that the NZ Green Party have no say in what happens in NZ society, they seem hell bent on fucking around with other country’s domestic affairs. Control freaks? It would be nice if they would travel to China or Israel to personally register thier protests, but they know they wouldn’t get a visa.
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Why should anyone jump to the assumption that Fonterra staff are culpable? Fonterra was a minority shareholder who when made aware of the contamination made strenous efforts through multiple channels to have the product withdrawn.
New Zealand Dairy’s reputation in the market rests on the quality of it’s produce and to be knowingly involved in the toxic adulteration of milk would be economic suicide. They’ve had their fingers burned through this investment and don’t need to make any comment other than an expression of genuine regret for the victims of this criminal act.
This is just part of the ongoing smear campaign by the greens against the evil big business arch enemy Fonterra.
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:11 pm
Lesson to be learned. Oriental culture is different, not better, not worse, just different to what we kiwis are accustomed to.
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:08 pm
I was disappointed not to see Keith Locke leaping to defence of the melamine murderers over the anguished cries of the parents of the six dead babies.
Every time he appears on TV, the Greens go a little more red in the eyes of Kiwi voters.
Keep it up Keith!
January 24th, 2009 at 12:18 am
Surely we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that at the end of the day, a Chairman of the Board of a major subsidiary of NZ’s most significant global player spends the rest of her life in jail as a result of the criminal actions of others?
Let’s be clear. Fonterra is not a cowboy. It would never have condoned this for a second had it known. It would not have gone into partnership with a cowboy. This was a serious venture into a promising market, using well-tried honest, up-front Kiwi principles.
The Chinese as we all know engage in questionable practices at all levels. I’m personally, highly suspicious of the fact this was kept under the rug until the Olympics were over and we all know why that might have been the case.
Personally, I see scapegoat written all over this, and the fact is, this is a disaster for NZ’s ability to weather the incoming global storm.
Scapegoat in the sense that while those executives that knew, ought to be punished, those that tried to blow the whistle but were prevented for political reasons ought to escape at least the uttermost severity. The people who actually did it, engaged in it, need to be bought to book. So far, I’ve seen two of those – the ones sentenced to die. Where are the bureaucrats who decided to delay the announcement till after the Olympics, the bureaucrats who presumably signed off the quality control, etc. Where are they?
If NZ can’t sort this out by making these distinctions clear to our Asian partners, we are fucked in the entire Asian market and guess what? This is the only market that can save us from the economic tsunami about to befall us with great fury in 2009.
January 24th, 2009 at 3:33 am
“Lesson to be learned. Oriental culture is different, not better, not worse, just different to what we kiwis are accustomed to”
An excellent point Murray. I recently moved to Hong Kong and its made front page news here, but not for the handing out of the death penalties to the two men, but for the fact that the death penalty WASN’T given to Tian Wenhua, who many see as responsible.
The politics (if it can be called that) in China is simple, they commited a crime, they now face the consequences. If China were as leanient as NZ is on crime (at almost 10% by these stats http://www.police.govt.nz/service/statistics/2007/fiscal/stats-national-20070630.pdf, and yes i know they’re a bit old) then you’re looking at 100′000′000 criminal activities.
And perhaps if NZ took a lesson from Chinas policy, this wouldn’t happen http://police.govt.nz/district/central/release/2799.html
January 24th, 2009 at 8:09 am
Hey kisekiman – its been published several times that Fonterra “people” knew that Sanlu was producing contaminated powder.
They have come up with several excuses – they had to tell the state authorities first, the olympics were on and they didnt want to upset anything, etc.
The excuse that they were minority shareholders (thats not by choice – its chinese law) is crap.
They (directors) should have immediately resigned if they really couldnt do anything else and gone public with the reason why they were resigning. Its not compulsory to remain a director of a company thats selling poison product – even in china.
The slack buggers didnt try to do anything about it as far as can be established. They didnt write to anybody (well no info has been realeased to say that they did – and Im sure they would have done so if thy had).
Of course they didnt take the honest way out (resign) because they would 1. loose their pay, 2. Fonterra wouldnt have reps on the board 3. they might loose their investment – well guess wht? – they’ve lost all those and more.
Its well established that Melamine is a serious poison. Only a year or so ago there was a rash of poisoning of dogs and cats in N. America because someone in china put melamine in pet food.
Anyone with half a clue would have immediatley saw serious danger when they learned their was melamine in the milk – like “it killed animals and we are animals so maybe it will kill humans”
Fonterra are boloody lucky they have lost as little as they have.
And i think I read somewhere that they are planning to do a deal in russia. Idiots. The russians are much smarter than the chinese about screwing. Ask Shell about their oil find in siberia. Shell paid to find the oil then the ruskies simply told them they were now minority shareholders.
January 24th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
I don’t trust the Chinese courts to get things right. The Chinese government denies individuals the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt. I doubt a thorough investigation has happened. I wouldn’t be surprised if they kill scapegoats rather than culprits.
January 25th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
The Chris Lee web site has an interesting criticism of Fonterra’s very highly paid financial people.
28 months ago their top man decided to repay $550mil of capital notes. The terms of the notes were to base the interest rate on that of one year Gov’t Stock plus 1.7%. So these days Fonterra would be paying a mere 5.2% to finance the burgeoning inventory of unsold butter and milkpowder.
It is my cow cocky mates who have to pay for this sort of high finance silliness.
And, by the way, their huge stockpiles of unsold product are reaching incredible amounts.
January 25th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Yes, I here Fonterra is proping up covered commercial storage realestate lease rates for the whole country such is their demand to stack unsold milk powder.
Compare with the UK car plants closing down production because they have nowhere left to store unsold car product!
But really, where else can Fonterra go except into developing markets? If they don’t the shareholders will find the great global monopoly no longer sets the price.