transcript

This text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI's THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI's THE WORLD is the program audio.

LISA: We first heard of China's Melamine scandal about three months ago. In fact, many of us heard of Melamine just three months ago. Melamine is a chemical that's used for legitimate industrial purposes, but it can also be added to milk to falsely boost protein readings. That's what happened in China. Six babies died there. 294,000 others suffered kidney and urinary problems from drinking baby formula made with tainted milk. Now, The World's Mary Kay Magistad in Beijing reports that those charged in this scandal are standing trial.
MARY KAY: A street stall owner named Liu says she knows what she'd like to see happen to the people who contaminated baby formula with Melamine.
LIU: [SPEAKING IN CHINESE]
MARY KAY: She says, “They should be executed.” And Liu's grandchild wasn't even affected by the Melamine scandal. Jou Lian Hi's four-year-old was. Jou now runs a website to help families whose children got kidney stones or worse from Melamine. He's inclined to show more mercy to the 17 people already on trial and the 4 executives of the main company at the heart of the scandal who go on trial tomorrow.
JOU: I'm of two minds. Rationally, I want the verdict to be fair, impartial and severe because these people did wrong. But on the sentimental side, we're all Chinese people and we all make mistakes. I hope those who made this one will learn from it.
MARY KAY: One way they could learn is to pay substantial compensation to the families affected. So far, 22 Chinese milk companies are offering a total of $300 per family in compensation for mild affects of Melamine. Families of sicker children would get about $4400. Lawyer Jung Kai says these amounts are too low. He's been helping about 70 families try to file a class-action lawsuit. So far, the courts have refused to accept the case, much to Jung's disappointment.
JUNG: In Western countries, the judicial systems are completely independent and they operate without government interference. In China, it's not like that. In China, we've been talking about judicial reform for many years, hoping to move toward an independent judicial system but we certainly don't have it yet.
MARY KAY: Jung says that he's not daunted; that it's more interesting to be a lawyer in a society that needs lawyers to push for rights, than in a society where everything already works. He says the Melamine scandal demonstrates the need for China's justice system to recognize the concept of punitive damages.
JUNG: Before, in China, there wasn't such a thing, which left business people wiling to take the risk of playing tricks to make huge profits, because they'd only have to pay a low compensation fee as penalty. It encourages that kind of illegal behavior. We hope with this scandal we can add punitive damages to the Chinese legal system.
MARY KAY: That's assuming that Jung and the families he represents will ever get their day in court. Meanwhile, the defendants now standing trial face potentially severe punishment. In the past, officials who were convicted of failing to assure product safety have sometimes been executed. But food safety scandals have still erupted, and many consumers both in and outside China, have become weary of Brand China as a result. Taiwanese businesswoman Lucy Hung lives in Beijing. She's hoping that Chinese government will get a handle on regulating food products.
LUCY: The ones you can trust, the government, you feel safe about where you're eating. Otherwise, it takes a very long time.
MARY KAY: Do you now feel safe about where you're eating?
LUCY: No, not really.
MARY KAY: And, she says, the government's going to have to do more than put a few people on trial to win back confidence.
For The World, I'm Mary Kay Magistad in Beijing.

Copyright ©2008 PRI's THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI's THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World's Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.