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Common Dreams reports:
The death toll from this week's fiery explosions at the Chinese port of Tianjin climbed above 100 on Saturday, while confusion spread over whether authorities had ordered the evacuation of everyone within two miles amid fears of chemical contamination.
[...] Anti-chemical warfare troops have entered the site, according to the BBC.
[...] Two Chinese news outlets, including the state-run The Paper, reported that the warehouse was storing 700 tons of sodium cyanide--70 times more than it should have been holding at one time--and that authorities were rushing to clean it up.
Sodium cyanide is a toxic chemical that can form a flammable gas upon contact with water.
[...] "The company that owned the warehouse where the blasts originated, Rui Hai International Logistics, appears to have violated Chinese law by operating close to apartment buildings and worker dormitories", journalist Andrew Jacobs reports for [NYTimes] (paywall). "Residents say they were unaware that the company was handling dangerous materials."
About 6,300 people have been displaced by the blasts, with around 721 injured and 33 in serious condition, Xinhua news agency said. At least 21 firefighters are reported dead.
Related: Large Warehouse Explosions Injure 300-400 in Tianjin, China
For the adulterated baby formula abuses of 2008 (4 infants dead; 12,892 hospitalized), 2 people were executed. One wonders what will come of this case.
(Score: 2) by Nollij on Sunday August 16 2015, @03:29PM
The difference here is who was affected. We all know that manufacturing in China is deadly to the locals, this will be forgotten (by the west) in about a week. No different than the factory fire in Bangladesh. Or the other dozen factory fires there in recent years. Or the story about how many people die each day from pollution in China.
The baby formula, OTOH, was a very big trade issue - China's been trying to portray its products as safe for a long time. It set them back a very long time, with many people still refusing to touch any food that comes from China. The executions were a show for outsiders. Now, if there are reports of iPhone users getting sick from this, things may change.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Sunday August 16 2015, @04:08PM
The baby formula, OTOH, was a very big trade issue - China's been trying to portray its products as safe for a long time. It set them back a very long time, with many people still refusing to touch any food that comes from China.
Not to mention the pet food fiasco of 10 years ago. I still avoid any pet food, or people food for that matter, that is made in China.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday August 17 2015, @02:15AM
I still avoid any pet food, or people food for that matter, that is made in China.
I suspect you're not alone there. My local supermarket used to stock Chinese garlic at about 10% the price of locally grown. Even at that price they couldn't sell it after the news stories about Chinese garlic farmers soaking the harvested garlic in bleach to get that nice white colour. I haven't seen Chinese garlic for quite a while now.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 16 2015, @08:31PM
Also, after a generation of one-child policy, babies are VERY important to the Chinese. Killing little Future Han Emperors is a good way to get yourself executed.
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Sunday August 16 2015, @11:52PM
Only male babies. Because, you know, females are only good for bearing children and cooking food. Males are needed to carry on the family name and ensure they can support their elderly parents as only males are breadwinners. It's an old mindset that has yet to go away.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 17 2015, @02:41AM
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-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Monday August 17 2015, @12:10PM
Turn your sarcasm detector back on.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Monday August 17 2015, @01:49AM
Glad to hear it, i have been sick of iphones for years now.
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 1) by Francis on Tuesday August 18 2015, @03:36AM
Those problems are mostly a thing of the past. You still see people willing to pay large amounts of money for formula from Hong Kong and there are strict limits by the Hong Kong government to prevent their supply from being bought up by Mainland residents.
In the time I was in China, I got sick precisely twice, which is about the same number of times I'd get sick if I lived in any other place with a foreign cuisine and less frequently than I get sick in America. The big problem is the heavy metals that can build up without you noticing it. But, they do inspect the food much more closely now and I saw absolutely no evidence to suggest that the inspections weren't working. There were a similar number of problems there to the US over a similar period of time.