53,000 babies and Chinese values.

Do the Chinese value human life? Or do they value money? A society answers this question not by what it says, but by what it does. Repeatedly, China has answered my first question in the negative, by doing something that shows a disregard for human life. As I write, 53,000 Chinese babies (up from 6,200 yesterday) are ill, some seriously, some dead, from melamine poisoning from contaminated milk. China, once again, has answered the question.

It is not possible, in a country in which its people value the lives of others as much as their own, for such a food poisoning scandal to occur. You see, melamine has been found in the dairy products of 22 companies in China. Melamine is more commonly used in fire retardants, floor tiles, kitchen ware and in the making of fertilizers. It is not a foodstuff and, indeed, causes death by renal failure if ingested in toxic quantities. That, of course, is just what is happening: babies are suffering kidney damage and some have died, others being seriously ill.

The fact that companies throughout the width and breadth of China are all manufacturing poisonous milk products can only mean one thing: hundreds, perhaps thousands or tens of thousands of suppliers and milk processors in China are adulterating the milk with melamine in the quest for additional profits, at the expense of the lives and health of unknown, random babies, by the thousand.

Think about that. The poisoning of babies on a large scale is considered a reasonable way to make money in modern China, by hundreds, perhaps thousands or tens of thousands of people. Furthermore, it was thought reasonable, by the Chinese authorities, to keep the whole thing quiet, while babies continued to drink poisonous milk, so that there was no embarrassment leading up to the Olympics. You see, first awareness of the problem goes back to March this year. Shortly after that, the relative of a leading Sanlu executive made a report to the authorities about it: she was told to keep quiet, apparently until the Olympics had passed. Thus, we return to the lies and deceptions surrounding the Olympics and the image of perfection China wished to present - at whatever cost. It seems, now, that one of those costs was the lives and health of 53,000 babies (and counting...after all the number declared was only 6,200 yesterday). How many of them could have been spared if the milk had been cleaned up in March?

Now, a toddler in Hong Kong has been revealed to have developed kidney stones after consuming Yili milk - one of the contaminated brands. How many others around the world are there, showing unusual sickness for their age...but unidentified because their doctors have not put two and two together? The contaminated milk has ended up in less than obvious locations - in everything from yogurt, to ice cream to confectionery...yes, that is right, your kid's favourite Chinese sweets, could kill them.

Everyone talks of the need for better regulation on the issue in China, but I don't really think regulation is the problem. The problem is a lack of basic humanity in their business people. Everyone knows you don't poison your customer to make a quick buck - everyone except the Chinese, it seems. There is no need for a regulation that states: "Don't poison your customer". That should be needless in any society that has reached even the most basic level of civilization. Perhaps China, in truth, hasn't reached that basic level yet - at least, its business people haven't.

What is needed in China is an elevation not of its economy (which will grow on the backs of lots of sick and dying people unwise enough to buy their products), but an elevation of its people: they must become responsible global citizens, thinking not just of the dollar today, but of people and society tomorrow. They must think of the consequences of their actions, beyond the immediate financial rewards that can be made by a particular course of action. If an action is sure to make more money, but the price is that it kills babies - then NO-ONE should be taking that course of action. Shockingly, however, in China it seems that hundreds, perhaps thousands or tens of thousands of people in the dairy supply chain took just that decision: to make money, while killing babies.

I don't think I will be visiting China in a hurry - and if I ever do, I won't be drinking the milk.

By the way, I have heard of something else that finds its way into Chinese milk to enrich the nitrogen content and thus the apparent protein content: urea. That's right: they are pissing in the milk supply. It gives a new meaning to "Made in China".

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

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