China Chronicles May 1, 2012

• Built to Last

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• Cannons Ready

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• Walls within Walls

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• Lipton accused of buying 'rough' tea

  Lipton has been buying cheap and rough-quality tea leaves for years from Chinese growers who admit using powerful pesticides on their crops.

  The revelation by a Xinhua news agency report is the latest episode in a pesticide scandal involving the world-famous brand and a slap in the face for some agriculture ministry officials who had defended the company, claiming that pesticide residue found in the tea could have been blown by the wind from other crops nearby.

  Xinhua also accused Lipton of hiding problems from Chinese consumers as its investigation showed it had been warned by the national quality watchdog about tea bags containing excessive levels of a harmful metal last August. But Lipton deliberately held off announcing the result to the public for three months, Xinhua reported.

  In a report released late last month, environmental organization Greenpeace said a third-party certified laboratory had tested Lipton tea bags bought in Beijing and the results showed that its jasmine tea, green tea and oolong tea contained residue of harmful pesticides.

  Greenpeace said 17 types of pesticide were found in the samples, several of which were not approved in the European Union because they affected the male reproductive system and could harm the health of unborn babies.

  However, the amount of residue identified was not excessive according to China's looser standards.

  Shanghai Unilever Co Ltd, Lipton's owner, said in a statement that all their products had passed Chinese quality tests.

  That statement did little to calm public fears and there was heated online discussion about the subject, culminating in the Xinhua investigation.

  Xinhua said that farmers from tea plantations in southern Anhui Province had told it that Unilever purchased cheap-quality tea leaves cropped in summer and autumn. Compared to tea leaves harvested in spring, those sold to the brand were much rougher in quality. One supplier said Unilever's payment for such tea leaves was onl! y 20 yua n per kilogram but the supplier kept doing business with Unilever because of the large amounts involved.

  The problem of pests is always more serious in summer and autumn compared to other seasons and the growers said they had no choice but to use powerful pesticides, according to the report.

  Xinhua said the national quality watchdog found on August 5 last year that Lipton oolong tea bag samples contained excessive level of tombarthite, a heavy metal that can cause kidney and liver problems. But it did not issue a public statement until three months later when it announced it had recalled the tea bags and destroyed them, Xinhua said.

• Titanic II to take shape in a Chinese shipyard

  AN Australian billionaire is to build a high-tech replica of the Titanic at a Chinese shipyard and its maiden voyage in late 2016 will be from England to New York, just as its namesake planned.

  Just a couple of weeks after the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the original Titanic, Clive Palmer announced yesterday that he had signed a memorandum of understanding with CSC Jinling Shipyard in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, to build the Titanic II.

  "It will be every bit as luxurious as the original Titanic, but ... will have state-of-the-art 21st-century technology and the latest navigation and safety systems," Palmer said. He called the project "a tribute to the spirit of the men and women who worked on the original Titanic."

  More than 1,500 people died after the luxury liner hit an iceberg on its first voyage.

  Palmer built a fortune from real estate on Australia's Gold Coast before becoming a coal mining magnate. BRW magazine reported he was Australia's fifth-richest person last year worth more than A$5 billion (US$5.2 billion).

  Palmer said at a news conference that previous attempts to build a Titanic replica failed because proponents failed to raise enough money and commission a shipyard. The Titanic II is the first of four luxury cruise ships Palmer has commissioned CSC Jinling Shipyard to build.

  Palmer did not provide a cost estimate. He said he had established a new shipping company, Blue Star Line Pty Ltd, and that design work for the Titanic II had begun with assistance from a historical research team.

  The most obvious changes from the original would be below the water line, with welding rather than rivets, a bulbous bow for greater fuel efficiency and enlarged rudder and bow thrusters for increased maneuverability, Palmer said.

  Brett Jardine, general manager for Australia and New Zealand in the International Cruise Council, said Titanic II would be small by modern standards but could prove viable at the top end of the luxury market.

  "Fro! m a mark eting point of view, many will embrace it and perhaps there'll be some that wouldn't," Jardine said.

  "If you've got a niche, it's going to work," he added.

  While the Titanic II would carry around 1,680 passengers, most modern cruise ships create economies of scale by catering for more than 2,000, he said.

  
  

• China probes Yellow Sea fight

  CHINA is verifying details of a conflict between Chinese fishermen and South Korean coast guards, the Department of Consular Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

  South Korea said four of its officials were hurt in a fight after they boarded a Chinese fish carrier, and nine Chinese sailors had been arrested.

  Seoul said the scuffle happened after South Korean officials ordered the Chinese vessel to stop for an inspection yesterday morning in the Yellow Sea.

  The South Korean coast guard said one official suffered a cut to his head but his condition wasn't life-threatening. Two other South Koreans received minor injuries, and another was rescued after falling into the water.

  The officials returned to their own vessel and contacted another coast vessel, which captured the fleeing Chinese sailors.

  The Chinese side is verifying the situation and called on South Korea to take concrete measures to ensure the security and legitimate rights of the fishermen, a foreign ministry official said.

  The Chinese side will maintain communications with South Korea and appropriately resolve the issue through joint efforts, the official said.

• 18 killed in minivan crash

  Rescuers try to reach a victim stuck in a minivan yesterday morning in Tongxin County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The minivan collided with a truck on a highway, killing 18 people and leaving another eight injured. An investigation into the cause of the accident is under way.

• 18 dead, 8 injured in Ningxia road accident

  A road accident has killed 18 people and injured eight others in north China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region this morning, local authorities said.

  The accident happened at 7:08am when an Iveco van collided with a truck in Wangtuan Township of Tongxin County, said sources with the county government.

  The cause of the crash is being investigated.