Word of the Day: Tegong

A university canteen with students in the back lining up for food

When I worked at a state media outlet in Beijing, at 12 noon we would get our empty food containers and chopsticks, and gather at the canteen door for some grub. Only when the staff were ready were the doors unlocked and we could see what grub was available.

There were thick noodles with a tomato and scrambled egg sauce, small plates of appetizers like pickled garlic cucumbers, or spicy pickled wood ear fungus, or even steamed or fried small fish.  My favourite on Thursdays was jiaozi, or dumplings. I'd get two catties' worth, or about 20 of them and was very happy eating them with a good dose of vinegar. The food was also very cheap too, only a few yuan.

Tomato and scrambled egg with noodles in soup

After a few days or weeks, I can't remember, a colleague I was eating lunch with said we were lucky to have good food. He explained that because we were working for a company that was state owned, the food was of a good quality. Of course he added, senior officials had access to the best quality food.

I was relieved to hear this, as there were so many stories of fake food in China, but I was also surprised to hear this privilege we had, just from working in state media, my colleagues toiling for 3,000 yuan a month.

Now I know there is a word for it, called 特需供應 te(4) xu (1) gong (1) ying (4) or tegong meaning "special supply", where food comes from organic farms, and quality trusted pork, beef and chicken producers.

This privilege extends to all canteens of local governments, state-owned enterprises, and elite athletes, while everyone else has to guess if the food they are eating is not dodgy.

Dumplings were never served like this in the canteen...

Tegong is an ancient tradition in China, where royal households in past dynasties used to source food from designated suppliers in regions known for their particular produce. One example is that during the Qing dynasty, emperors would only drink spring water from Beijing's western hills, which were carried over daily to the Forbidden City.

The tradition continued after the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949 for Communist Party leaders. The main reason was for food security to ensure central government officials were not poisoned, the second was for food security during famines and food shortages. The third is reputation, where the government designates certain farms and suppliers for overseas consumption, including Hong Kong, so that the quality and safety is ensured.

During the 1980s, one of the grievances that led to the Tiananmen Square protests was anger against officials' privileges that included tegong. After the bloody crackdown, the government promised to do away with the tegong system, but the measure wasn't implemented.

And so this privilege is still here to this day, while people continue to buy milk powder outside of China, and any other food they can get their hands on.

Until government officials eat the regular food that the laobaixing or ordinary people eat, food scandals will continue to fester, while the privileged can enjoy their tegong food.

Cancer Isn't just the Horoscope Sign for Crabs

It's now been found hairy crabs might have cancer-causing chemicals in them

We're well into hairy crab season, and only now has the Hong Kong government released test results that show some of the crustaceans from two farms in Jiangsu province have excessive levels of dioxin and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls.

In other words, these hairy crabs contain highly toxic chemical compounds that could cause cancer and damage reproductive and immune systems.

And now Health minister Dr Ko Wing-man says it could take up to two weeks determine if more of these crabs are also not suitable for consumption.

Hairy crabs are bundled up and sold in many shops here

Will this make fans of the crustacean think twice about eating their favourite food this time of year?

Democratic Party lawmaker Helena Wong Pik-wan says waiting two weeks is pointless because the crabs will have been consumed by then.

These small crabs can be found in food shops behind plastic or glass shelves, wrapped up in dried reeds and kept alive with squirts of water. And many people who love the crustaceans buy them to steam at home, or head to restaurants that serve them.

Wong, who is a former Legislative Council food safety panel member, slammed the Centre for Food Safety for failing to act as a gatekeeper and not adopting a unified food safety protocol with the mainland.

According to industry sources, the mainland food safety standards do not refer to dioxin levels.

Connoisseurs love hairy crab for its roe this time of year

"How could [the government] not realize all these years that there were no tests for dioxins in Jiangsu province?" she asked.

Wong said dioxin testing should be set out in law in Hong Kong on an acceptable level for food.

Currently there is no international consensus on dioxin standards so Hong Kong authorities use the World Health Organization guidelines for reference.

Some distributors are claiming they don't buy crabs from those tested so far, saying they get them from farms that have hygiene certificates. Are these documents even credible?

In any event, I'm luckily one of those people who isn't crazy about hairy crabs. If I eat hairy crabs, I can only eat one, because I lose patience trying to extract all the meat from the small legs, though admittedly the roe is quite amazing, together with aged yellow wine.

I'm very happy eating it once a year and that's it -- but in the meantime Hong Kong has been purchasing food across the border for decades... shouldn't we have established these food safety protocols ages ago???

Tainted Pork Raises Food Safety Questions

All lined up -- pork ready to be sold in markets and supermarkets

Earlier this month, we discovered there are still some loopholes in our quality control when it comes to inspecting pigs from China that come to Hong Kong to be slaughtered.

What typically happens is that when they pigs arrive in the city, they are tested to ensure they are safe for consumption, and once they have the green light, the animals are slaughtered and distributed, and then sold in wet markets and supermarkets.

However, this time, the pigs from Jiangxi province were tested, but before the results were confirmed, they were already slaughtered and the pork was distributed into the food chain.

Tainted pork earlier this month caused food safety fears

This caused not only a lot of fear regarding food safety in Hong Kong, but also led to financial losses for wholesalers and sellers who were mistakenly accused of selling tainted pork.

Today the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man apologized for the blunder, saying the tainted pork scandal was "entirely the government's fault", and police would investigate possible sabotage involved.

While farmers in the mainland are known to illegally use asthma medicine to enhance animal growth and leaness, this time around 300 pics were "drugged" with an unusually high level of illegal chemicals on their way to Hong Kong, rather than from the farms they came from.

"This might not be a simple food safety incident," Ko said. "It was unusual for farmers to use such a high level of food additives in pigs before the livestock were subjected to food safety tests.

"Even if they use illegal enhancers, they usually stop for a certain period before the pigs are sent to the slaughterhouse," he said.

Dr Ko Wing-man apologized for the tainted pork scandal

Wouldn't one be concerned to know farmers use these illegal enhancers anyway? Why doesn't Hong Kong refuse to accept any pigs that have been treated this way?

In fact why not encourage animal husbandry in Hong Kong again so we can ensure we are getting clean pork? Why are we depending on China for our supply? Why can't we have our own?

The Hong Kong government does little to encourage locals to take up farming, once a livelihood of previous generations. While it is admittedly hard work, there are some people who are keen to do this because of the benefits of eating organic, or at least food that is cleaner.

We have some organic farming happening, but on a vary small scale, and they aren't properly regulated. Chefs are keen to use local produce to lower their restaurants' carbon footprints, but these farms just don't produce enough volume.

There is potential there, so why can't the government support these farmers?

This dependence on China for our food and water is too much; and it's scary too. Ko's comment about farmers using illegal chemicals in our food is an everyday occurrence is shocking. And his lack of interest in encouraging locally-produced food is very telling.

Food Safety Fears... Again

A butcher selling pork in a wet market in Hong Kong

Yesterday Hong Kong's Food and Environment Hygiene Department found 319 pigs from the mainland with traces of Salbutamol and Clenbuterol -- drugs usually used to treat asthma, and artificially enhances animal growth and leaness.

However, the announcement was not made until 40 pigs had been sent to 27 retailers in the city, including two Wellcome stores and two Kai Bo Food Supermarkets.

There were a lot of questions why the authorities didn't stop the meat from being distributed, as they could not confirm if any more of the contaminated pork was on the market or if it had been consumed.

Pigs in Jiangxi province were found to be contaminated

Hui Wai-kin of the Pork Traders General Association of Hong Kong criticized the department for letting 40 of the tainted pigs to go through food production before safety results were known.

"Why would the pork be released to the market for sale before seeing the rest results on safety," he asked.

The spokesperson for the department could only say that 2,200kg of pork was confiscated from importers, and an additional 1,300kg turned in by wholesalers would be destroyed.

The contaminated pork came from Jiangxi province, which has now banned all livestock farms there from exporting pigs to Hong Kong. We get 20 per cent of our pork from Jiangxi, and from Guangdong and Henan provinces. One wonders if that pork is also safe to eat...

Pork is such a staple in Cantonese cuisine that it's hard for many families to go without it. They find it more flavourful than beef, and use it for everything from long-simmering soups to stir-fries, dumplings, roasted, and in bun fillings for dim sum.

Many vegetables sold in Hong Kong are from China

This is not the first time Hong Kong has had to deal with contaminated food from China. It again raises the issue of food security that the authorities don't seem to care about, as we also get 80 percent of our water from across the border too, and for very cheap, but is it safe?

Cheap is not a vote of confidence for Hong Kong people, some of whom have decided to reduce their meat intake, or only eat meat from overseas, go completely vegetarian or even vegan.

Surely the Hong Kong government is acutely aware of its residents' feelings towards food imports from China. Taking the necessary precautions to alert people about contaminated food should be its number one priority and stopping it from getting into the food distribution system.

A local doctor has warned that eating large amounts of tainted pork could result in heart failure for those with heart disease.

Do we want to know this after the contaminated pork entered our food distribution system? And if you eat pork almost daily, does this mean the toxins from the pork stay in our bodies for a long period of time? No one is telling the answer.

All the more reason to eat less meat, though vegetables from the mainland have been sprayed excessively with fertilizer and pesticides too... What can we eat?

#firstworldproblems

People in Hong Kong seem to complain to leverage something out of it...

It seems that Hong Kong people love to complain. About everything.

And many use social media as a weapon to threaten businesses to expose what they think is a massive injustice to them.

For example, a friend went to Park N Shop, a regular supermarket, to buy a bun to accompany a salad she had at home. She just wanted to buy the pork bun, but in front of her was a customer who came to return a bun with figs in it -- because it didn't have enough figs in it.

Seriously? This is Park N Shop. This isn't a famous gourmet bakery that stakes its reputation on quality.

But my friend noted that the server was very patient, helping this woman find a bun with more figs in it and got her one. The customer even demanded the staff cut it open so she could see how much of the fruit was in there.

That server should get the employee of the month award.

Another friend works in a hotel and they received a complaint from a group claiming to have contracted food poisoning after eating at the buffet. But the complaint came four days after the incident, and they said they were still unwell and they had already planned a trip to Japan. If the hotel didn't do anything to compensate, then they would take to social media with their complaint.

Food poisoning is very difficult to prove, especially when people in Hong Kong eat out so much. You also need a big group of people to all fall ill at the same time, because one or two people could be an isolated incident.

But that's not all. Another complainant said traffic in front of the hotel was so bad that it took them forever to get a taxi.

What does that have to do with the hotel? Why not contact the police and tell them to sort out traffic issues in the area?

Yet another complaint came to a friend whose company sold water filters. A customer bought one and said the water from it didn't taste good and felt the water filter was not functioning properly.

The company offered to give him a refund, but he still wanted a media expose about it and contacted a local paper to do a story. But really, if a company is already offering a refund, no questions asked, what is the problem?

How did Hong Kong people become like this?

Many of the complaints outlined here are not worth ranting over. If you didn't get enough figs in the bun then don't buy it from the supermarket anymore, or look more closely next time for one with more figs in it.

Food poisoning needs to have a big group of people -- who report it in a timely manner. Traffic issues? Call the police. And if a company is willing to refund a water filter or give you a new one, what more can you complain?

Rants like these make a mountain out of a molehill and wears down staff who have to deal with them. These people don't want to be cheated -- but out of what?

Can we please be more mature about these things and only complain when it's really justified?

And with all the things happening in the world right now -- particularly the desperate plight of Syrians trying to flee their country -- complaining about small things is really pathetic.

Time to grin and bear it.

#firstworldproblems

A Horrific Escalator Ride

Do you dare to take an escalator in China these days?

It was shocking to read last week about a woman in Jingzhou, Hubei province who died after being swallowed up by an escalator in a shopping mall. It turns out the metal panel was loose and so the 30-year-old mother fell in, but she was able to push her two-year-old son to safety.

Two female employees caught on video got on the escalator before Xiang Liujian and they felt the panel was loose and managed to escape. They were discussing the problem at the top of the escalator, but did nothing to warn Xiang about the metal plate, watching her fall in.

There are reports the video footage is gruesome, and it took workers several hours to recover her body, or parts of it...

And now a cleaner in a Shanghai mall has had part of his leg amputated after it got caught in an escalator yesterday.

Xiang falls into the escalator as she pushes her son to safety

The 35-year-old was cleaning the escalator when his leg got stuck in the section where the stairs meet the metal plate. Although the escalator stopped immediately, his calf was so severely injured that doctors had no choice but to amputate the leg.

An investigation is underway.

In the case of Xiang, investigators have found the three floor plates were poorly designed, and so they got loose and tilted easily. They also found the size of the plates did not match the original designs and were loosely fitted.

The manufacturer, Suzhou Shenlong Elevator Company, was accused of poor quality control and officials have ordered all of its machines that are used across the province to stop service and have safety checks carried out.

The mall was also found not to have taken proper emergency measures after its staff discovered the escalator was faulty.

Escalators are common place in Chinese cities -- now everyone must be worried about getting on and off one. Are they all safe? Is Suzhou Shenlong Elevator Company the only firm in the whole of China that may have cut corners?

This brings back memories of the scandal of melamine-laced powder milk in 2008, where at least six babies died and tens of thousands of babies and toddlers had serious health problems.

Adding melamine to the thin milk helped boost the protein levels of the powdered milk on paper, but what did it do in the end? Why are people still chasing profits instead of aiming for the goal of quality products?

The horrific elevator death drags China back to the stereotypical belief that things made in the Middle Kingdom are shoddily made, without caring for people's safety and well-being.

Will we see a full transparent investigation? Will the culprits be punished? It's not just those who installed the escalator, but also the company's executives who allowed shoddy workmanship to go ahead, and the mall's management for not having emergency plans in place for escalators malfunctioning.

In the meantime what about the husband and son? What kind of legal recourse will they have?

Time will tell if justice will be served.

Being Socially Responsible

Chen Qiaoling (above) and Chen Hongrong recorded China's food scandals

Three years ago, Chen Qiaoling and Chen Hongrong, both graduate students at Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management, founded Yueyaduo Food Safety Research Centre.

They published a book called China's Food Safety Record in January, documenting all the food-safety scandals reported in the media in recent years.

It took them two years to compile the book, and the pair paid for all the expenses to produce it. This book is the first to record food-safety incidents in China, and has been compared to former CCTV news presenter Chai Jing's self-financed documentary, Under the Dome, about China's air pollution.

Originally Chen Qiaoling thought after graduation she would have a stable job in Beijing, then buy an apartment and a car, and get a hukou or residency permit. But Chen Hongrong challenged her. "Shouldn't you do something beneficial to society and shoulder your social responsibility?" he asked.

Chai Jing made a documentary about China's air pollution

"I was touched by what he said. Hearing the phrase 'social responsibility' reminded me of a course I had taken about business ethics and social responsibility," Chen recalled. "I told him how the course included a case about food safety, and we started talking about the widely reported food-safety problems in China. We decided to do something about the issue, because it was an essential part of everyone's life. Nobody can escape from it."

As neither of them had taken courses related to food safety, the pair had to do extensive research. To gather more information on the ground, they went to nine provinces and municipalities, including Zhejiang, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hunan, Fujian, Shandong, and Hebei provinces, as well as Beijing and Tianjin.

They went to local farmers' markets, farms and supermarkets and surveyed people's opinions about food safety.

"We found that many people only had a very limited understanding. For example, some thought that if an agricultural product has been sprayed with pesticide, it is unsafe; others thought all food additives were not safe," says Chen.

"From these surveys, we realized that we needed to come up with something to let the public know what food safety is."

They were inspired by Harvey Wiley, the first commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration in the early 1900s. He and his colleagues published a series of reports on many food-safety issues that made the government, food producers and the public realize the need to improve the situation.

After compiling the book, Chen says there are two important issues regarding food safety in China, one of which is that many Chinese lack integrity.

"Many producers know they are using meat from dead pigs and cows, and that they are producing counterfeit food, but they don't care," she says.

"The second problem is the government cannot implement its regulations effectively. For example, China has set standards for edible oil, but a food-stand owner who sells deep-fried dough sticks isn't aware of them. He also won't know how to check whether the oil he uses complies with the standards. This is why more government guidance is needed."

At first only 200 copies of China's Food Safety Record were published for friends and family, as the authors didn't think anyone would read the book, let alone be willing to pay for it.

But after the book was in bookstores, they were surprised to find many people wanted to buy them, including civil servants, teachers and students majoring in agriculture, and people in the food industry, as well as readers who were concerned about the issue.

"Many people seem to think that it is very difficult to shoulder social responsibility," says Chen. "But actually once you start, it is not that hard at all. It is something many people can do. Many just don't have the courage to take the first step."

We thank Chen Qiaoling and Chen Hongrong for taking the initiative to do the research to put this book together as the definitive record on China's food-safety. Hopefully the government, particularly the central government will take notice and see the shortcomings in implementing its food safety measures and devise more effective ones.

The main issue of integrity is a troublesome one, whose root lies in morality. When people have no morals, then ensuring food safety is very difficult. How does one change the attitudes of unscrupulous people? It's going to take a long time to root out...

Misaligned Opinion

Leung Chun-ying is wondering where all the mainland shoppers are...

Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying says there is an "alarming" drop in the number of visitors coming to the city in recent weeks and he blames it on the stronger Hong Kong dollars, the economic situation in other countries, but most importantly on protests against parallel traders.

This was confirmed by Travel Industry Council executive director Joseph Tung Yao-chung who said the number of mainland tour groups dropped 20 percent since the anti-parallel trader protests.

Leung says there was an alarming drop in the number of visitors coming to Hong Kong during the Easter break. Maybe it's because there China does not celebrate the crucifixion and then rebirth of Jesus, nor does it believe in bunny rabbits and Easter eggs?

This past weekend people in China were busy marking Ching Ming! Perhaps they wanted to pay respects to their ancestors than go shopping in Hong Kong?

In any event, for Leung to say the drop is "alarming" is amusing, as the Hong Kong government hasn't done much to mediate the situation, which has led to protests escalating to minor skirmishes with the police.

But the bad publicity surrounding mainlanders crossing the border several times a day to buy up Hong Kong stocks of milk powder, shampoo, chocolates, cookies and skincare products to bring back to the mainland to sell has resulted in possible changes to travel permits.

Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office deputy director Zhou Bo said the individual visit scheme that allows residents of 49 cities to travel to Hong Kong without joining tour groups, and multiple-entry permits that grant 2 million permanent Shenzhen residents unlimited trips were to be "refined to better suit Hong Kong's situation"... whatever that means.

There have been countless debates in the media about parallel traders -- some readers welcome them because after all, Hong Kong is a port city that became what it was through trading.

Others are tired of not being able to buy necessities because shops are cleaned out by parallel traders and want more restrictions in place.

It's interesting that both the Hong Kong and Chinese governments did not forsee the impact of parallel traders in the city, and how this would negatively affect our community.

All this because China cannot get its act together on food safety -- since at least 2008.

What's really "alarming" is Leung not thinking parallel traders are hurting Hong Kong's image, but the protesters.

Didn't he pledge to serve Hong Kong people and their interests?

The Invasion of Tuen Mun

Lots of people lining up for the convenient B3X bus to Shenzhen Port Bay

China really needs to fix its product quality issues, from food to shampoo. Hong Kong has had enough of parallel traders invading residential areas and snapping up goods to sell across the border.

Today was evidence of that frustration with a massive protest in Tuen Mun that resulted in police unleashing pepper spray.

Residents were protesting against not only the parallel traders, but also those enabling them, like Citybus' express B3X, that for HK$11 runs from Shenzhen Bay Port to Tuen Mun Town Centre. The bus mostly carries mainlanders and those shuttling goods across the border several times a day.

Two weeks ago 12,000 mainlanders took advantage of the offer of a free ride on that bus that was organized by three shopping malls in the district.

Protesters out in full force against shoppers invading Tuen Mun

"Every time I walk home, I can't get by because I am blocked by a horde of [mainlanders] with luggage on the pavement," said one Tuen Mun resident.

The parallel traders seemed unfazed by the protest, with some taking photos of the event on their phones or as their bus went by, gave protesters the middle finger.

The protest also moved to malls, and when protesters arrived at Tuen Mun Town Plaza, tensions devolved into a shoving match and police launched pepper spray into the crowd. From pictures it looks like police were about to unleash pepper spray in the mall, which will surely result in questions on judgment in crowd control in a confined space.

Batons were also used resulting in injuries on both sides.

Is this the best way to handle the situation?

Why is the Hong Kong government standing idly by while these conflicts continue? Is it still trying to boost its retail figures that saw dismal numbers in December?

Some mainlanders admit they don't want to come to Hong Kong, but they want to know the food and products they buy are safe. Their lack of confidence has stimulated Hong Kong's economy but has resulted in social conflicts that do not bode well for the city's eventual integration with the mainland...

Perhaps government officials should come to Tuen Mun and live a day in the life of residents there to really see what's going on. But of course that's wishful thinking...

Another Food Scandal

The fast-food restaurant had been serving bad meat processed in Shanghai

McDonald's has been in crisis mode since Sunday when Shanghai broadcaster Dragon TV reported that meat supplier Husi reprocessed and repackaged old beef and chicken and put new expiration dates on them.

Not only were they sold to the fast-food restaurant with the golden arches, but also KFC and Pizza Hut.

Owned by Illinois-based OSI Group, Husi has a plant in Shanghai that is at the centre of the scandal.

Not only are McDonald's outlets in China affected, but also in Hong Kong.

What made it worse was that McDonald's Hong Kong first denied it imported any food products from the Shanghai plant, but then yesterday apologized for the "confusion" and said the food served from now on in the city was not from Shanghai Husi.

The Hong Kong government had earlier announced an immediate ban of the import and sales of products from Husi Food Company.

Assistant director of food and environmental hygiene Dr Lee Siu-yuen stated that any Husi food already in Hong Kong would be sealed and stored in warehouses.

The fast-food restaurant had been importing cooked chicken leg meat from Husi's Shanghai plant since May, and from July to December last year it had imported 10 batches of frozen pork from Shanghai Husi.

There are concerns the meat also made its way to Japan, where McDonald's there said 20 percent of its meat for chicken nuggets was supplied by Husi.

Meanwhile OSI Group chief executive officer Sheldon Lavin apologized to "all of our customers in China". He said the incident "was terribly wrong" and "I am appalled that it ever happened in the company that I own".

So far five Husi executives have been questioned by Shanghai police. Surely charges will follow.

This incident clearly demonstrates that six years on, the Chinese government still has not set up an effective accountability system to ensure food products produced on the mainland are safe to eat.

There was such a huge uproar in July 2008 following the melamine milk scandal in which at least six infants died and hundreds of thousands more became ill from drinking powdered milk laced with melamine to make the milk seem like it had higher protein content, but in fact was just watered-down milk.

This resulted in over 300,000 children with malnutrition and kidney damage.

Beijing promised to set up 800 testing centres around the country, 80 of which are dedicated to food.

But because there are so many small producers, the government doesn't have enough inspectors to go around. And even then some may be easily corrupted by bribes.

As a result China's already precarious food quality reputation is at risk again and one wonders when the country will get its act together. As others have said before -- you can sell us cheap clothing and shoes, but contaminated food is where we draw the line.

Perhaps the upside is that people won't be eating at McDonald's for a while, but also it has forced the public to question where their food comes from and do restaurants really check on their suppliers.

Not only is the Chinese government to blame, but so is OSI Group and Lavin for not knowing what was going on in the Shanghai plant. Since when is it OK to reprocess rotten meat? Not only is it a health issue, but also morally wrong.

And then for McDonald's Hong Kong to flip flop on such a serious issue demonstrates its unwillingness to deal with the problem, or it too is unsure of where all its food products come from.

Fast-food restaurants seem to have a disconnect when it comes to food quality -- it's not just about the bottom line anymore.

The public cannot afford to eat bad food.

Trying to Milk Political Points

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key with Chinese President Xi Jinping

Chinese President Xi Jinping is at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Nusa Dua, Indonesia along with many other top leaders in the region. Most notably absent is American President Barack Obama due to the government shut down. Secretary of State John Kerry came in his place instead, but was relegated to the back in the photo call.

It's pretty telling how the US shutdown is perceived elsewhere...

Meanwhile, Xi hasn't been let off the hook easily by the citizens of his own country when he took the opportunity to berate New Zealand Prime Minister John Key about food safety.

According to Xinhua, Xi reminded Key that food safety mattered to people's health and "urged New Zealand to take tough measures to ensure food quality and thus maintain the sound momentum of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries".

People back in China are inundated with monthly reports on domestic food scandals and so for Xi to say this resulted in a collective face-palm.

"The entire country is laughing," wrote a Sina Weibo user.

Xi said this after New Zealand's largest dairy exporter Fonterra had some of its products banned in China earlier this year because of concerns over bacterial contamination. This resulted in extensive recalls, that impacted the New Zealand dollar and caused Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings to issue an apology.

But can we point out the Chinese domestic dairy industry is in an even worse situation?

Five years after melamine was found in baby milk powder after the Beijing Olympics where at least six children died, China still hasn't sorted out the industry, streamlining how raw milk is collected to pasteurized and then distributed. It also hasn't enforced inspections and established an effective system of checks and balances.

More importantly the lack of trust in the government has meant parents continue to go outside of China to buy milk powder, creating havoc in their demand for above board food for their babies.

So why does Xi even dare to castigate New Zealand?

It's a political ploy everyone can see right through.