The Chinese Embassy in Washington has urged the US to treat
China's food and drug exports in a scientific and fair manner,
saying exaggeration and complication of the issue is not conducive
to the healthy development of bilateral trade.
The embassy issued a statement on Thursday after a series of
disputes over the quality of products between the two.
The embassy said it hoped the US would not exaggerate or play up
individual food safety cases and create a "China food and drug
threat", giving the American public the wrong impression.
"Blowing up, complicating or politicizing the issue is
irresponsible," it said.
It added that it is even more unacceptable for some to launch
groundless attacks against China using the food and drug safety
issue as an excuse.
It said problematic US imports from China such as toxic
ingredients mixed into pet food were isolated cases and more than
99 percent of Chinese food that is exported to more than 200
countries and regions met the safety standard.
The statement said China should not be singled out for
particular concern over food safety, a common challenge facing
every country including the United States.
Noting recent US cases of contaminated spinach, peanut butter
and poultry, the statement said China is not on the top of the list
of countries whose food exports were refused in the past year.
It said the Chinese government has taken this matter very
seriously, acted responsibly and immediately adopted forceful
measures.
Agencies contributed to this story.
(China Daily July 21, 2007)
