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

Sunday 01st November, 12:43 PM JST

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mindovermatter at 11:01 PM JST - 1st November

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

Here we go again with this... Let's find someone to blame, and make sure they apologize.... I think you guys are smart enough to figure out where the Dumplings came from, and by a little simple deductive reasoning, even you Japan, can all but certainly conclude that China had something to do with the Poison (or what-ever) that was found inside of the dumplings...

It almost sounds like the mentality of a 7 year involved in an argument with a 5 year old sibling.... "Well You did it, so you need to admit it and apologize...!"
mushroomcloud at 12:53 AM JST - 2nd November

Let's take this even further. What if China did this on purpose with the explicit aim to frighten Japan (hint: they succeeded).

"The health ministry says Japan tested 203,001 samples of food last year and found 1,515 samples that violated standards. The largest number of violations, a third, came from China, which supplies about 15 percent of Japan’s food imports."

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/11/business/worldbusiness/11safety.html?ex=1349755200&en=e3f20dcc537587f2&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
mushroomcloud at 01:06 AM JST - 2nd November

The problem is, just about everything the Japanese eat is made in China, from one degree or another. So, in essence, China is feeding Japan, and there is little protection that the Japanese people can realistically count on to fulfill there food safety needs, other than making the move to become self sufficient, which will not happen.

"I'm scared to buy Chinese foods," said Yasuyo Sakata, a 36-year-old woman in Tokyo.

"Since the dumpling case, I've tried not to buy Chinese-made products but there's a limit," Sakata said. "Made-in-China products are everywhere. I don't think I can keep avoiding them."

"It is that Japan's food self-sufficiency -- the ratio of the nation's food intake that is produced at home -- is just 40 percent, the lowest rate of any of the Group of Seven major developed countries."

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=213531

"Apparently 63% of soba consumed in Japan is imported from China, and only 22% is domestically produced. The panelists are shocked to find out that 95% of soybeans consumed n Japan are imported. The only exception are negi green onions, over 90% of which are grown in Japan. The bowl of tempura soba is given an overall domestic ingredient score of 20%.

http://www.japanprobe.com/2008/06/27/japans-reliance-on-food-imports/

Spaghetti is given an overall score of 16%, and hamburg steak and ramen are given scores of just 13%."
powsurfing at 01:57 AM JST - 2nd November

I don't understand why it takes so long to demand admittance from Beijing... Spineless japanese politicians..... If something costs ¥100 in Japan to make but costs ¥10 to make in China, Of course its going to be of Shoddy quality... Don't want to take the risk of poisoned food? don't buy it from China! Want to control what's coming from China? MAKE A LAW FOR TIGHTER REGULATIONS!!
yosun at 03:39 AM JST - 2nd November

Why not simply forbit anything like that to import until amendment work is done? it's useless only talk.. talk.. talk~ showing off?
MrUSA at 06:08 AM JST - 2nd November

Why would anyone put something in their body that was made in China? Japan should stop importing food from China because there's such a high risk of it being poison.
PepinGalarga at 06:08 AM JST - 2nd November

this is still on? wow, what lack of tact... just forget apologies and get tighter at customs. Put all Chinese gyoza imports in quarantine for chemical testing, then publish the results. No one will buy the gyozas then. That would be the real punishment.
gaijintraveller at 07:41 AM JST - 2nd November

Personally, I am going to continue eating food labelled as imported. I believe the customs check imports more thoroughly than the Ministry of Agriculture does. There seems to be plenty of shenanigans in the food industry in this country, too.
bluecactii at 08:57 AM JST - 2nd November

10 people got ill 2 years ago? Keep grabbing at straws J-gov't.
diggerdog at 09:02 AM JST - 2nd November

well this is what happens when you out source your industries, quality drops. But people want cheap over quality thats why everything is made in china. The poison could have got in their in any number of ways, im guessing there are no strict health and safety rules in china right!
Disillusioned at 09:08 AM JST - 2nd November

Okada should clean up his own backyard before he goes pooping in someone else'. With the amount of food scandals in Japan how can he make thise accusations at China? Or, does he think all the food scandals in Japan originate in China?
suebe36d at 09:17 AM JST - 2nd November

Persistent denial a fact of life. Just defend Japanese labor force and Okada supporters from unhealthy not to mention poisonous food that'd degrade their performance or productivity or wealth of the rulers and figureheads.
desmosedici at 08:56 PM JST - 2nd November

If I was this Chinese fellow I would admit, otherwise Interpol might come knocking on his door.
lincolnlklim at 10:12 PM JST - 2nd November

If anybody should be blamed, it is the custom department that allowed these poisoned food to enter into Japan and let them be consumed by the Japanese. If the customs can't even do their job properly, then might as well abolish the custom department. Then you can blame China.
nigelboy at 02:39 AM JST - 3rd November

Okada should clean up his own backyard before he goes pooping in someone else'. With the amount of food scandals in Japan how can he make thise accusations at China?

Because the issue in China is "poisoned" food.

It almost sounds like the mentality of a 7 year involved in an argument with a 5 year old sibling.... "Well You did it, so you need to admit it and apologize...!"

Huh?? More like a parent telling his/her kid to apologize. Sibling argument is offered by Disillusioned with his "well, you do this too!!"