Okada asks Beijing to admit frozen dumplings laced with poison in China

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TOKYO, Nov. 1 Kyodo -
Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada has asked China to compile an interim
report admitting that Chinese-made frozen dumplings that made people ill in
Japan were laced with poison in China, diplomatic sources said Saturday.
Okada made the request to the Chinese side when he held talks with his
counterpart Yang Jiechi in Shanghai on Sept. 28, the sources said.
The Japanese foreign minister called for such a report from China given that
little progress has been made although nearly two years have passed since the
food poisoning cases in Japan occurred, they said.
Japan is hoping to receive the report from China before Japanese Prime Minister
Yukio Hatoyama visits the country next year, according to the sources.
During the meeting with Yang in September, Okada said the chances are high that
the dumplings in question were laced with poison in China, citing a similar
food poisoning case in the country connected to the same food maker, the
sources said.
Although Okada called on China to specify exactly where the frozen dumplings
were laced with poison, Yang replied that it is difficult to determine the
location since the crime was an international one, the sources said, adding
Okada pressed China to give a prompt response.
The issue was also discussed during summit talks between Hatoyama and Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing on Oct. 10. Hatoyama also pressed China to
specify where the poison was introduced, but Wen only replied that he had been
briefed by a top investigative officer on the matter.
China has not responded on the matter since then, though the two countries
agreed during the summit to hold ministerial meetings on food safety on a
regular basis.
The pesticide-tainted dumplings made 10 people ill in Japan from December 2007
to January 2008, sparking anxiety over food products imported from China.
==Kyodo
2009-11-01 22:22:05