CHINA – OLYMPICS

'Dope-free' pigs bred for the 2008 Olympics

To avoid accidental false positives in doping tests for the next Olympic Games, China is breeding special all-natural pigs in secret, under video surveillance.

Friday, September 7, 2007

By Y.QIAN

With 11 months to go before the 2008 Olympics, the Chinese authorities have engaged the help of "honourable" pigs (an ironic term given by Chinese bloggers). China is determined to put on a successful Olympic Games. The slogan "I participate, I am devoted, I rejoice" on enormous posters lining Beijing's main thouroughfare Chan'An Jie invites everyone to participate - civil servants, workers, taxi drivers, restarauteurs, cleaners, citizens, and now, even the pigs.

According to a report published at the end of August in Xinjing Bao, one of Beijing's largest official daily papers, these biologically-raised pigs receive very special treatment: they are raised in carefully selected parks throughout the country, far from all forms of pollution - far from big cities, transportation lines, and especially industrial zones and mines.

They are fed with agricultural products certified by the European Union as being organic and free of additives. Additives often found in normal pigs in China could potentially cause an athlete to fail his doping test, says Niu Nansheng, spokesman for Lucky Crane, a company providing pork for the Games, in an interview with the Financial Times.

In addition, the pigs are given vaccines made with traditional, 100% natural Chinese medicinal plants. And - they do sports. Every day, the pigs are required to do at least two hours of exercise in fresh air, to ensure that they will be fit by the time the Olympic athletes arrive next year. To ensure the safety of the pigs, the Chinese government is keeping their whereabouts secret. Not only are these parks under video surveillance, but they are also under 24-hour protection by security professionals.

"We are on a political mission. And for a political mission, one never speaks of cost," explains Niu Nansheng. News of the pig's special treatment sparked waves of criticism among Chinese Internet users. On the forum "Douban", where young people exchange opinions on books and articles, one can find numerous commentaries on the government's precautions in the lead-up to the Games. "All those close to the government live more happily than others - even the pigs!" writes one Internet user. “The beautifual image of a country rests neither on the Olympic Games, nor on pigs," mocks another. On the forum “11 persons”, a poem in slang circulates, “We Chinese people have to offer a great meal to our foreign friends even if we have to live without shorts ourselves. We Chinese people are diverting steel from our precision instruments in order to make window frames for our foreign friends”.

Doping probe of Greek weightlifters launched

Prosecutors have launched a preliminary investigation into the alleged use of banned substances by 11 Greek weightlifters, judicial officials said Monday.

The athletes' suspended coach, meanwhile, blamed a mistake by a Chinese drug maker for the positive tests.

Olympic weightlifting coach Christos Iakovou, one of Greece's most successful coaches, was suspended on Friday after 11 Greek weightlifters tested positive for banned substances.
(Newsports, File/Associated Press)

The probe, headed by prosecutor Andreas Karaflos, was announced as Greek sporting authorities began an emergency meeting and weightlifting team's preparations for the Beijing Olympics were thrown into turmoil.

Sports Minister Yiannis Ioannidis summoned the heads of the country's main sporting federations and representatives of the Hellenic Olympic Committee.

"We are interested in winning medals, but medals that have been earned with hard work and training," Ioannidis said.

Ioannidis told Associated Press Television News that "I think it is not likely" that Greek weightlifters will compete in the Olympics, but that the International Weightlifting Federation will make the final decision.

Olympic weightlifting coach Christos Iakovou, who was suspended Friday, denied any wrongdoing and blamed the test results on a faulty batch of dietary supplements.

"Neither the athletes nor the team officials and pharmacologists or Mr. Iakovou, knew that the dietary supplements being taken contained any banned substances," Iakovou said in a statement — adding that he was "devastated" by the allegations.

Iakovou, 60, is one of Greece's most successful coaches with his athletes winning five Olympic gold medals, along with five silver and two bronze, since the 1992 Barcelona Games.

Iakovou's lawyer, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, said Monday he had received documents from a Chinese drug maker admitting it had made a mistake and shipped the wrong drugs to Greece.

"The company admits it has made a tragic mistake … I have the documents. I don't think there is stronger proof than this," Dimitrakopoulos said.

Dimitrakopoulos named the company as Auspure Biotechnology Co. Ltd., a Shanghai-based drug maker.

The names of the male and female weightlifters who tested positive have not been announced pending confirmation — expected later this week — of the out-of-competition test from samples taken on March 7.

On Sunday, all 11 athletes testified before an investigative committee set up by the Greek Weightlifting Federation.

The tests were conducted in Athens by the World Anti-Doping Agency, on orders of the International Weightlifting Federation.

campaigning to end the export of domestic dogs to China

Just cam across a website at Sirius Global Animal Organisation where I found the pictures below. I knew that in some Asian countries it is normal to eat dogs and cats but the pictures made me absolutely mad! This is not normal and it actually made me sick just looking at the pictures and reading the story.
There are actually western countries who sell dogs to China, Vietnam and Korea.
Go to the above website and sign their petition at (Sirius GAO) campaigning to end the export of domestic dogs to China

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Greece to toughen doping laws

Greece to toughen doping laws

Suspended Greek weightlifting coach Christos Iakovou is set to sue a Chinese drug-testing company [AFP] Greece has pledged to toughen its doping laws after some of the national team's top weightlifters failed drugs tests which could lead to a ban from the Beijing Olympics. Eleven weightlifters tested positive for banned substances last week, stunning the sport that has enjoyed large medal hauls for Greece in three of the past four Olympic Games. "We are not interested in medals that come at all costs," Michalis Liapis, Culture Minister, who also oversees the country's sports, told reporters after meeting Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis. "We were ordered by the Prime Minister to take all necessary measures to expose this case. "It is time to bolster our legal arsenal to have healthy sports and clean athletes." "It is time to bolster our legal arsenal to have healthy sports and clean athletes." Michalis Liapis, Culture Minister Liapis added that the government would draft and include amendments to the law within 10 days. Ministry officials have said the main legal change to existing doping laws will be upgrading the use and distribution of banned substances from its current status as a misdemeanour to a felony. The weightlifting case has made media headlines for the past week as memories of another pre-Olympic doping fiasco four years ago returned to haunt the Greeks. Sprinters Costas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou, the country's main medal hopes, were withdrawn from the Athens Olympics after failing to appear for doping tests on the eve of the Games. Alleged spike Greek weightlifting federation officials including Christos Iacovou, suspended head coach, blamed the positive tests on Chinese company Auspure Biotechnology, who they say accidentally spiked a batch of supplements with banned ingredients. Greek officials said Auspure had also sent an e-mail apologising for the ingredients mix-up which the Shanghai based company have since confirmed. However the federation also blamed Iacovou on Thursday for "acting on his own initiative, without the approval of the federation, when he ordered the supplements in question." Iacovou, who has said he will sue the Chinese company as will one of the athletes who tested positive, insisted the federation had been kept informed of his nutritional supplements purchases. Chinese authorities have launched an investigation into the matter. The Greek weightlifting squad could face expulsion from the Beijing Olympics if their follow-up B-samples test positive. Under the current World Anti-Doping Agency code, the athletes face a two-year ban if they are first-time offenders.

Drug firm investigated in Greek doping incident

Drug firm investigated in Greek doping incident

China's drug watchdog said on Thursday that an investigation was underway concerning the reported involvement of a Chinese drug maker in a Greek doping scandal.

Since April 9, China's State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) has launched inquiries into the incident, together with the country's health ministry, the customs administration, sports administration and other relevant departments, Yan Jiangying, the SFDA spokeswoman, told a press conference.

A preliminary investigation indicated the facts might not be totally the same as earlier reports by foreign media, she said.

Greek media reported on April 7 that 11 lifters tested positive in a surprise inspection by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

The Greek side claimed on the same day that the athletes tested positive because they had taken a dietary supplement produced by the Shanghai-based Auspure Life Science Co. The Chinese drug manufacturer apologized through a letter for adding the wrong substances in the nutritional supplement, according to the media reports.

Yan promised China would seriously deal with any law or regulation-violations in the incident.

Earlier this month, China launched a six month anti-doping campaign. The country said it would severely crack down on any illegal activities of producing, selling and using doping drugs.

Reuters

China release video of Tibetan protesters

A new video taken by Chinese state television has been released showing monks confronting riot police.

Officials have also posted a series of photos of their 'most wanted' suspects.

It is China's first admission its security forces have caused injuries in their crackdown on anti-government demonstrations

Tibetans in China's province of Sichuan said they believed police had killed several people in anti-Chinese riots.

The claim disputes China's official report that no protesters have died since the clashes began.

But Chinese authorities have revealed four protesters were shot and wounded in a heavily ethnic Tibetan part of the province, where protests broke out after riots in neighbouring Tibet a week ago.

The police said they acted in self-defence when they opened fire in the Chinese city of Kangding on Sunday.

It is China's first admission its security forces have caused injuries in their crackdown on anti-government demonstrations.

A new video taken by Chinese state television has been released showing monks confronting riot police and officials have posted a series of photos of their 'most wanted' suspects.

Chinese authorities also said they had arrested dozens of people involved in the protests that have swept Tibet and prompted Beijing to pour in troops to crush further unrest.

Exiled Tibetans say as many as 100 Tibetans have been killed in total, while China says 13 "innocent civilians" died in riots last week in Tibet's capital Lhasa.

Mindful of the international condemnation of its military crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989, China says its security forces in Lhasa exercised "maximum restraint" and did not use lethal weapons.

China has accused the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader, of orchestrating last week's violence - a charge he has denied.

Speaking in his home in the Indian town of Dharamsala, the Dalai Lama said he was ready to travel to Beijing to meet Chinese leaders, and called on Tibetans to end the violence.

Beijing has long said it will meet him only if he forsakes claims to Tibet's independence. The 72-year-old says he just wants greater autonomy for his homeland.

The Chinese government has resisted international calls for dialogue over the unrest and expressed serious concern that Prime Minister Gordon Brown plans to meet the Dalai Lama during a visit to Britain in May.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has urged China to show restraint towards protesters.

"We have urged for many years that China engage in a dialogue with the Dalai Lama, who represents an authoritative figure who stands against violence and who also stands for the cultural autonomy of the Tibetan people but has made very clear that he does not stand for independence," she added.

And the speaker of the United States House of Representatives has called on the world community on Friday to denounce China in the wake of its crackdown in Tibet.

Nancy Pelosi has called the crisis "a challenge to the conscience of the world."

Mrs Pelosi was the first major foreign official to meet the Dalai Lama since protests turned violent in the Chinese-ruled region.

Addressing a crowd of thousands of Tibetans, she said: "If freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China's oppression in China and Tibet, we have lost all moral authority to speak on behalf of human rights anywhere in the world."

The unrest has alarmed China, keen to look its best in the run-up to the Olympic Games in Beijing in August.

China condemned as 'world's top executioner'

Updated 14.54 Tue Apr 15 2008

Keywords: Capital Punishment, China, Amnesty International

Amnesty International hascondemned China as the "world's top executioner" in its annual survey of countries that carry out capital punishment.

The human rights organisation said China had executed at least 470 people in 2007 - but campaigners believe the true figure may be 8,000.

"I hope, as China takes its place on the global stage, that it will seriously look at its human rights record" - Amnesty researcher Piers Bannister

Amnesty said the total number of executions worldwide was at least 1,200, suggesting that China accounts for more than a third of the global count.

Noting that Beijing classifies the death penalty as a state secret, Amnesty commented that "as the world and Olympic guests are left guessing, only the Chinese authorities know exactly how many people have been killed with state authorisation."

The organisation said that with the Olympic Games taking place in Beijing this year, it was pushing for change on the part of the Chinese authorities.

"I hope, as China takes its place on the global stage, that it will seriously look at its human rights record, and that one of the things it will do is abolish the death penalty," Amnesty researcher Piers Bannister said.

The report estimated 374 people will be executed in China during the Olympic Games.

The Amnesty report said 88 per cent of all known executions take place in just five countries - China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United States.

It said Iran carried out at least 377 executions, while the figure for the US was 42.

Amnesty called on all governments that allow the death penalty to lift what it called the "veil of secrecy" over the practice.

"We need to see that the borders of execution-free Europe and the Americas are pushed back into the Middle East and Asia until we see a world free of executions," Mr Bannister said.

Kenny Richey, from Edinburgh, who was finally cleared for release at the end of last year after spending more than 20 years protesting his innocence on death row in the US, said of the report: "These numbers are really chilling.

"Having actually been on death row I can guarantee that there's a human tragedy behind every one of these statistics.

"In my case, shoddy justice was to blame for my having to endure the living hell of two decades staring death in the face.

"Looking back I am incredibly grateful to the campaigners in Scotland and elsewhere who managed to get me off death row - the important thing now is to press for abolition of the death penalty in every country in the world."