Flood of dead pigs, trickle of answers in China
By The Associated Press
This article was published March 20, 2013 at 7:36 a.m.
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BEIJING — The pig carcasses — about 14,000 of them — have been floating down rivers that feed into Shanghai for nearly two weeks. The city's residents have been told not to worry, and not much else.
Where the pigs came from, how they died and why they suddenly showed up in the river system that supplies drinking water to a city of 23 million has not been explained. Officials have told residents their drinking water is safe, while authorities have censored microblog posts suggesting that the public organize peaceful protests.
The official response reminds many of the government silence that surrounded previous health concerns, from the SARS epidemic to bird flu to contaminated milk.
"They are only giving the runaround," said Huang Beibei, a Shanghai microblogger whose revolting photographs of the pigs first prompted local media coverage and government attention. "'Who believes what they are saying?"
"Those pigs must have come from somewhere," author Li Mingsheng said. "That's a basic question, but the government still has not told us that."
Authorities have retrieved at least 13,996 dead pigs as of Wednesday, and have released daily bulletins saying drinking water in Shanghai remains within national standards.
Comments on: Flood of dead pigs, trickle of answers in China
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DontDrinkDatKoolAid says... March 20, 2013 at 10:47 a.m.
So they say.
~
Our own government could if not has done the same thing. Don't worry, be happey, it is only 17 trillion dollars of debt.
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Countymayor says... March 20, 2013 at 2:13 p.m.
This is why we must not allow legislation that would weaken our environmental laws in
this country.
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BarichMilhusseinObamaNixonPOTUS says... March 20, 2013 at 2:34 p.m.
Sweet and sour pork?
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blopblop says... March 21, 2013 at 1:32 a.m.
Be calm everyone, 14,000 pig carcasses in your drinking water are within Chinese "national standards". Hmmm.
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