China covered up milk scare to protect Olympics: critics

10/1/2008

China knew about the contamination of milk products months ago but covered the scandal up to prevent it tarnishing the Beijing Olympics, according to journalists, rights groups and media critics.

The crisis broke in mid-September, a month after the Olympics, but several Chinese reporters had long known about babies being hospitalised after drinking tainted milk, yet were muzzled by the authorities, the critics say.

An editor at a respected southern China newspaper said that as early as July one of his reporters was investigating how milk powder might have been to blame for children developing kidney stones and falling seriously sick.

"As a news editor, I was deeply concerned because I sensed that this was going to be a huge public health disaster," Southern Weekend news editor Fu Jianfeng said on his blog.

"But I could not send any reporters out to investigate. Therefore, I harboured a deep sense of guilt and defeat at the time."

Fu's blog posting was later removed, although it could be read on some overseas Chinese websites. Fu himself could not be reached for comment.

An estimated 53,000 Chinese children have been sickened after the industrial chemical melamine was added to milk products, and four infants have died.

The first of the baby deaths was on May 1, more than four months before the scandal went public.

Starting with Sanlu milk powder, the scare has gone on to envelop numerous Chinese firms and international companies operating in China, including global giants Cadbury and Unilever.

Chinese premier Wen Jiabao vowed over the weekend to work to restore his country's reputation, saying it was facing the problem "candidly".

However, there are claims that Chinese authorities reverted to the familiar practice of squashing the negative news reports, apparently conscious of the damage it would do to the August 8-24 Olympics.

"Several Chinese journalists have said it is becoming more and more obvious that the authorities in July prevented an investigation into the toxic milk coming out so as not to tarnish China's image before the Olympics," said a statement by media rights group Reporters Without Borders.
Sanlu Group began receiving complaints of sick children as early as last December, a recent cabinet probe found in an apparent attempt to shift the blame for the delay.

It also said Communist officials in the northern city of Shijiazhuang, where Sanlu is based, delayed referring the matter to higher authorities for more than a month after Sanlu finally told them of the problem on August 2, six days before the Beijing Games began.

"It is a concern that the first cases appeared early, but were concealed during the Olympics. A perfect environment was needed for the Games," said a Western product-safety expert who asked not to be named.

Despite the World Health Organisation and United Nations raising concerns about the delay in exposing the risks, rights groups say the Chinese government is continuing to silence reporters, suppressing media coverage vital to determining blame and preventing a recurrence.

"The government's gag order on the media has the effect of shielding those responsible for the tainted milk from accountability," Chinese Human Rights Defenders, a network of domestic and foreign rights activists, said in an emailed report.

It cited several instances of reporting by Chinese media censored or banned by authorities. The instances could not be confirmed by AFP.

The Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists last week also criticised China for "escalated restrictions" on reporting on the scandal.

It said propaganda authorities had expelled journalists from at least four Chinese newspapers in the same city as Sanlu's headquarters.

It also said authorities had deleted articles on the case from news websites and insisted on pre-approving related articles.

"China's Central Propaganda Department's attempts to control the media's reporting of a very serious public health crisis can only serve to heighten fears," the IFJ said.

"A free flow of information through a free media is vital where lives are at stake, and government restrictions on journalists may be endangering public health."

China has blamed the scandal largely on milk brokers adding melamine to boost milk protein readings.

Dazzling Paralympics set to end in style

China prepared Wednesday to bring down the curtain on a spectacular summer of sport during which it dazzled on and off the track, with the final events and closing ceremony of the Paralympics.

China prepared Wednesday to bring down the curtain on a spectacular summer of sport during which it dazzled on and off the track, with the final events and closing ceremony of the Paralympics.

The eyes of the world will once again be on the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium as Beijing extinguishes the flame of the 13th Paralympics after what the international movement's chief Philip Craven described as a "great Games."

China has dominated the medals table here, standing on 88 golds and 208 medals overall with just a few events still to finish, enjoying particular success in athletics, swimming and table tennis.

Britain, who chased China hard in the early part of the Games, had 42 golds and 102 medals early Wednesday afternoon, ahead of the United States in third place with 36 golds and 99 medals.

China's Paralympics' performance mirrored its efforts at last month's Olympics, where they finished top of the medals table and similarly won similar praise from organisers for staging a well-run and spectacular event.

The Paralympics were lit up by Canadian wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc, South Africa's Olympic swimmer Natalie du Toit and Australian swimmer Matthew Cowdrey, all of whom won five golds.

South Africa's sprint sensation Oscar "Blade Runner" Pistorius also grabbed his share of headlines with a track sprint treble that was completed on Wednesday with gold in the 400 metres.

The athlete, named after the carbon fibre blades he wears, broke his own world record in the event following his earlier wins in the 100m and 200m.

The Games have been widely praised for their superb organisation and the huge crowds that have turned out to watch the sports, particularly at the athletics and swimming.

China has also sought to use the Paralaympics to improve the plight of its 80 million disabled.

Ahead of the event, authorities made Beijing more friendly for disabled people by, for example, setting up the country's first fleet of easy-access taxis and making tourist spots such as the Great Wall accessible to wheelchairs.

Huge efforts were also made to show that China treated the Paralympics with as much importance as the Olympics, including keeping anti-pollution measures such as a partial ban on cars in place.

China promised "Two Games with Equal Splendour," comparing the Paralympics to the Olympics, and International Paralympic Committee chief Craven told reporters Wednesday they had achieved their goal.

"These Games have been great Games. I think everybody realises that," Craven said.

He praised the organisation of the event and the hospitality of the Chinese, saying he realised even before the Games started that there was "something special in the air".

British organisers of the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics on Tuesday also praised the "spectacular" delivery of both events.

Controversies over drugs and classification problems were among the few issues to cloud the Paralympics but Craven said the event was "near enough free from doping".

Three out-of-competition doping offences were uncovered in powerlifting but there had been not one in-competition case.

A wheelchair basketball player was sent home by the German team following a positive doping test carried out pre-competition by the German anti-doping commission.

The Olympic 2008 Closing Ceremony 23 August 2008

Leone Lewis (American Idol 2008) sings for the closing

Lightning Bolt the star of Olympic Athletics show

Usain Bolt (L) of Jamaica celebrates victory with Asafa Powell of Jamaica after the Men's 4 x 100m Relay Final

Usain Bolt of Jamaica was the shining star of 10 days of Athletics competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games that produced five world records and 16 Olympic records.

Bolt arrived at the Games having lowered the 100m world record to 9.72 in May. He did not disappoint, winning both the 100m and 200m in astonishing world record runs of 9.69 and 19.30.

Shelly-Ann Fraser led home a Jamaican clean sweep in the Women's 100m with her compatriots Kerron Stewart and Sherone Simpson sharing silver. Then Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica retained the 200m gold she had won at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

Jamaica's near-total domination of the sprints was underlined in the Men's 4 x 100m Relay. The team, featuring Bolt on the third leg and former world-record holder Asafa Powell on the anchor, raced home with a new world record of 37.10.

The Jamaican Women's 4 x 100m Relay team, however, failed to complete the final after a mix-up between Simpson and Stewart on the second handover led to Stewart running beyond the changeover zone.

Clean sweeps of the medals in the Men's 400m and Men's 400m Hurdles meant there was some joy for the United States at the shorter distances. They took only four medals from 12 in the Men's and Women's 100m and 200m and watched in horror as both their Men's and Women's 4 x 100m Relay teams dropped the baton in their semifinal and failed to reach the final.

LaShawn Merritt of the United States was a surprise but unstoppable winner of the Men's 400m, ahead of his teammate Olympic and world champion Jeremy Wariner, who took silver. In the Men's 400m Hurdles, Angelo Taylor of the United States reclaimed the title he won at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

There was more woe for the United States in the Women's 400m when 2008's leading runner Sanya Richards of the United States was overtaken in the home straight by Christine Ohuruogu of Great Britain. Richards finished with bronze.

Jamaica's Melaine Walker added another gold to her country's collection in the Women's 400m Hurdles, pushing Sheena Tosta of the United States into second place in the final stretch.

But the United States responded with victories in both the Men's and Women's 4 x 400m Relays. Richards overtook Russia's Anastasia Kapachinskaya in the last 100m to win the Women's race while Merritt and Taylor took their second golds of Beijing 2008 in the Men's.

World record holder Dayron Robles of Cuba confirmed himself as the premier 110m hurdler in the world by claiming Olympic gold. It was done in the absence of Athens 2004 champion and home town hero Liu Xiang of China, who limped out of his first-round heat with a foot injury.

In the Women's 100m Hurdles, Dawn Harper of the United States took advantage of favorite Lolo Jones of the United States hitting the eighth barrier. Jones was not the only hurdler to come a cropper. European champion Susanna Kallur of Sweden failed to finish her semifinal while one of the Men's favorites, Terrence Tramell of the United States, hit the first hurdle to exit at the first heat.

In the middle and long distance races, Ethiopia and Kenya each won four of the 10 gold medals on offer.

Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia showed their class in winning the Men's and Women's 5000m and 10000m respectively, while 19-year-old Pamela Jelimo of Kenya continued her fantastic debut season by racing away for the Women's 800m gold medal.

In the exceptions to the two African countries' domination, Rashid Ramzi became Bahrain's first Olympic medalist when he sprinted home to claim gold in the Men's 1500m and Gulnara Galkina-Samitova of Russia won the Women's 3000m Steeplechase in world-record time to mark the event's Olympic Games debut.

The throwing events were largely dominated by eastern European countries. Poland's Tomasz Majewski took the first Athletics gold medal of the program, the Shot Put. Gerd Kanter of Estonia won the Discus Throw and Primoz Kozmus of Slovenia the Hammer Throw, for Slovenia's first Olympics Athletics gold medal.

It was the same in the Women's throwing events where Barbora Spotakova of the Czech Republic claimed the Javelin Throw gold and Aksana Miankova of Belarus became Hammer Throw champion.

In exceptions to eastern-European control, Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway needed an Olympic record of 90.57m to retain his Men's Javelin Throw Olympic crown, Valerie Vili of New Zealand set an area record to win the Women's Shot Put and Stephanie Brown Trafton of the United States won the Women's Discus Throw.

Irving Jahir Saladino Aranda of Panama was another athlete to make history when he won the Men's Long Jump, his country's first Athletics gold medal. Maurren Higa Maggi of Brazil ended Russia's Tatyana Lebedeva's dominance of the Women's Long Jump, pushing the Russian into silver medal position by a centimeter with a leap of 7.04m.

In the Triple Jump, Francoise Mbango Etone of Cameroon, who had won her nation's first-ever Athletics gold medal at Athens 2004, added their second gold with a jump of 15.39m. Nelson Evora of Portugal triumphed in the Men's competition.

There was a surprise in the Women's High Jump when Tia Hellebaut of Belgium beat 2007 world champion Blanka Vlasic of Croatia to the gold medal, while Andrey Silnov of Russia cleared 2.36m to win the Men's gold.

The Women's Pole Vault produced no surprises. Defending champion Elena Isinbaeva of Russia retained her title with 5.05m, her third world record of the year. Australia's Steve Hooker set an Olympic record of 5.96m to win the Men's.

Valeriy Borchin of Russia won the first Race Walk gold, the 20km, compatriot Olga Kaniskina finished first in the Women's 20km and Italy's Alex Schwazer broke from the chasing pack to take 50km gold.

Kenya's Samuel Kamau Wansiru brought an end to the Athletics program by leading home the Men's Marathon field on the final morning of competition. The Kenyan broke from the pack at the 38km mark to claim victory, one week after Constantina Tomescu of Romania had won the women's race, and break the Olympic record Portugal's Carlos Lopes set at Los Angeles in 1984 by three minutes.

In total, 42 different countries won Athletics medals. The United States took the most golds with seven - only half the tally they achieved at the Osaka 2007 World Championships - and the most medals overall with 23. Jamaica was the most-improved nation since Osaka with their haul of golds up from one to six.

Phelps takes greatest Olympic gold medal swag ever

Record gold medalist Michael Phelps

Michael Phelps owned the pool at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games with an astonishing eight gold medal performance. As if that weren't enough, all but his 100m Butterfly victory were accompanied by a world record.

Along the way, he broke a host of other records, including surpassing Mark Spitz's Munich 1972 Olympic Games effort of seven gold medals at a single summer Olympic Games. Many had said that was impossible.

Phelps began his assault on the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games with a bang, winning the Men's 400m Individual Medley on day two in a world record time of 4:03.84, slicing 1.41 seconds off the old mark. Hungary's Laszlo Cseh collected the silver medal and American Ryan Lochte won the bronze medal.

His second gold was in the 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay. His tilt at history almost ended when Frenchman Alain Bernard turned at the 50 meter mark on the final leg. Thirty-two-year-old American Jason Lezak was a body length behind the flying Bernard and it looked as though Phelps, who had swum the lead-off leg, and his team would have to settle for silver.

Lezak had other plans and produced one of the most stunning final 50m splits ever, a lightning quick 46.06, to overpower the Frenchman on the wall by 0.08 seconds and keep Phelps' dream of eight golds alive. France collected the silver medal and Australia the bronze.

Phelps' third gold came in the Men's 200m Freestyle final on day four, in which he broke the world record by nearly one second with a time of 1:42.96. Park Taehwan of the Republic of Korea won the silver medal and Peter Vanderkay of the United States the bronze.

Victory in the Men's 200m Butterfly final on day five took Phelps' gold medal tally to four and gave him another world record - 1:52.03 in this, his pet event. Cseh had another great swim to finish with the silver medal and Matsuda Takeshi of Japan took the bronze.

The Men's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay, also on day five, was next for Phelps. His team's world record of 6:58.56 broke the magical seven-minute barrier and netted Phelps' fifth gold. Russia won the silver medal and Australia bronze.

Phelps' then won gold in the Men's 200m Individual Medley on day seven, setting a world record by 0.57 seconds. Cseh took silver and Lochte, the bronze.

As expected, the Men's 100m Butterfly on day eight provided Phelps with his tightest race, but the challenge didn't come from the man expected, American Ian Crocker. Little-known Milorad Cavic of Serbia turned at the 50m in front of Phelps and 0.09 seconds under the world record split. Phelps dug deep to touch out Cavic on the wall by 0.01 seconds to keep the dream alive.
Phelps' final and eighth gold medal, which launched him into the Olympic stratosphere, came with a comfortable win in the Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay on day nine. Australia challenged momentarily but the US relegated them to silver. Japan took the bronze.

Stephanie Rice of Australia picked up three gold medals and three world records with victories in the 200m and 400m Individual Medley events and the 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay - the latter producing the biggest surprise. The Australians were rank outsiders and obliterated the world record by 5.78 seconds.

Japan's Kitajima Kosuke briefly stepped out of Phelps' enormous shadow to claim his own place in Olympic history at the Water Cube. Kitajima defended both his Olympic titles from Athens 2004 in winning the Men's 100m Breaststroke in a world record time and also the Men's 200m Breaststroke.

The highlight for China was its 1-2 finish in the Women's 200m Butterfly, their only gold medal in the swimming events. China's Liu Zige and Jiao Liuyang upset world record holder Jessicah Schipper of Australia, relegating her to the bronze medal and driving the crowd into wild celebration.

One of the finds of Beijing 2008 was 21-year-old first time Olympian Rebecca Soni of the United States. Soni, returning from heart surgery, had events added to her Olympic program after American Jessica Hardy withdrew from competition. Soni caused a huge upset on day seven, when she won gold in the Women's 200m Breaststroke from world record holder and hot favorite Australian Leisel Jones. Soni also won silver behind Jones in the 100m Breaststroke and silver in the 4 x 100m Medley Relay.

Great Britain unearthed a star at the Water Cube in Rebecca Adlington. The bubbly British distance swimmer didn't go into either of her two gold medal events as the favorite but triumphed in both. She won the Women's 400m Freestyle and, in winning the 800m Freestyle, she broke the longest standing record left in the swimming pool. Adlington beat the great American Janet Evans'19-year-old 800m Freestyle mark of 8:16.22 by 2.12 seconds to record 8:14.10.

The US topped the swimming medal count with 12 gold, nine silver and 10 bronze medals; Australia won six gold, six silver and eight bronze medals; Japan won two gold and three bronze medals.

The changing face of international swimming was demonstrated at these Games, with 19 nations winning medals in the swimming pool over the nine days of competition. The US dominated the program but other nations are posing a growing challenge to US hegemony.

Tong Wen (2nd L) of China
Tong Wen (L) celebrates


Tong Wen of China beat defending Olympic champion Tsukada Maki of Japan with an ippon in the final seconds of the match to win gold in Judo Women's +78kg, the last Women's Judo event of the Beijing Olympics. Tong's victory gives China its third Women's Judo gold medal of the Games.

He Wenna (C), Karen Cockburn (R) and Ekaterina Khilko
He Wenna celebrates after claiming the title.

He Wenna gestures after her performance

He Wenna of China claimed the Trampoline Women's gold medal with a score of 37.80. Canada's Karen Cockburn took the silver and Uzbekistan's Ekaterina Khilko took the bronze

Athens Rhythmic Gymnastics bronze medalist Anna Bessonova






Anna Bessonova

Many eyes will be on Athens Rhythmic Gymnastics bronze medalist Anna Bessonova as she prepares to compete in the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Bessonova was born into a family of sports on July 29, 1984, in Kiev, Ukraine. Her father, Vladimir Bessonov, played for Dynamo Kiev and made it to the FIFA World Cup Final in 1982, 1986 and 1990. Her mother, Viktoria, was a group rhythmic gymnast and won the World Championships twice. It was she who introduced the young Anna to the world of rhythmic gymnastics.

Anna began training when she was five years old. Instructed by Alina Deriugina and her daughter Irina Deriugina, a two time world champion, Anna benefited a lot from excellent coaching and showed great talent at a young age.

With years of hard training, Bessonova showed incredible flexibility and made her first international appearance at age 10.

In 1999, Anna competed in group gymnastics and finished third in the FIG World Championship in Osaka, Japan. Two years later, she clinched the bronze medal in the Individual All-round competition at the 2001 FIG World Championship in Madrid, Spain.

After winning more titles at the World and European Championships, the rising star went to Athens, where she performed impressively to earn the Olympic bronze medal with a total of 106.700 points.

She was finally awarded a long-waited gold medal in the 2007 FIG World Championship in Patras and most recently executed a gold-medal routine at LA Lights 2008.

As the Olympic Games draw near, enthusiastic fans eagerly anticipate Bessonova's graceful and breathtaking performance in Beijing.

Olga Kapranova

Russian Olga Kapranova is among the best rhythmic gymnasts in the world. Born in Moscow in 1987, the young blond continues to stun world audiences with her indefectible performance and astounding grace.

Instructed by Irina Viner, coach to Athens champion Alina Kabaeva and silver medalist Irina Tchachina, Kapranova has reached the top echelon of rhythmic gymnastics after rounding up an impressive collection of achievements in various international gymnastic events.

Kapranova took the world title for individual all-round in the 2008 Kiev World Cup after only placing third in the 2007 World Championships. With a good shot at the gold, Kapranova will be the focus of attention going into the Beijing Olympics.

Zou Kai (C), Jonathan Horton (L) and Fabian Hambuechen

Zou Kai
Zou Kai celebrates after his performance

Zou Kai of China won the Horizontal gold medal at the Beijing Olympic Games. Zou Kai scored 16.200 points for the gold, the ninth for the Chinese gymnastics team at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

The silver medal was taken by Jonathan Horton of the United States at 16.175, followed by Fabian Hambuechen of Germany in third place at 15.875.

Shawn Johnson (C), Nastia Liukin (L), and Cheng Fei

Shawn Johnson (US)

Cheng Fei (China)
Nastia Liukin (USA)

Shawn Johnson of the United States won the gold medal in the Beam event at the Olympic Gymnastics tournament. Shawn Johnson collected 16.225 points for the title, edging her fellow American Nastia Liukin to the second place at 16.025. Cheng Fei of China settled for the bronze medal at 15.950

L-R) Jean-Michel Lucenay, Ulrich Robieri, Jerome Jeannet and Fabrice Jeannet
(L-R) Ulrich Robieri, Jerome Jeannet and Fabrice Jeannet

The gold medal match of the Men's Team Epee Fencing event took place at the Fencing Hall on Day 7 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 15, 2008 in Beijing, China

Fencers of Russia celebrate

Russia claimed the Fencing Women's Foil Team title at the Beijing Olympics on Saturday, beating the United States 28-11 in the final.

(L-R) Boris Sanson, Nicolas Lopez and Julien Pillet

France claimed the Men's Sabre Team title at the Beijing Olympics, beating the United States 45-37 in the final. Italy edged Russia 45-44 in the bronze medal fight.

(L-R) Nadine Capellmann, Heike Kemmer and Isabell Werth of Germany
German rider Isabell Werth rides horse Satchmo
German rider Nadine Capellmann rides horse Elvis Va
German rider Isabell Werth rides horse Satchmo

Germany won the Olympic team dressage gold medal, their seventh successive Olympic title, holding off a strong challenge from the Netherlands at the HK Olympic Equestrian Venue (Shatin)

Victoria Pendleton celebrates
Victoria Pendleton (front) competes
Victoria Pendleton competes

Victoria Pendleton of Britain won the Women's Sprint Cycling gold medal at the Beijing Olympic Games. Australian Anna Meares finished second and Chinese Guo Shuang got the bronze.