On Sept 26, in Tianjin at the World Economic Forum, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson drank a glass of milk (click to see video) in front of the media to show his support for the Chinese dairy industry and said:
The Europeans will continue to expect the highest standards, just as Chinese consumers are demanding the same…. But in the meantime I shall continue drinking my own favorite, er, milk, er, product, er, er, which I enjoy and which does not make me nervous.His action, it was reported in the China Daily, touched Premier Wen Jiabao:
Wen said he was very moved when he saw in television European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson drinking a cup of Chinese milk on Friday to show his trust in China-made products. “It's because he not only sees the present, but the future as well,” Wen said.Just nine days later, Peter Mandelson, who now has a new job as Business Secretary back in the UK, has been diagnosed with a kidney stone:
"Over the past few days, Peter Mandelson has been experiencing some kidney pain," a spokesman said."Hospital tests yesterday confirmed that there is a small stone. This will be dealt with by the normal procedures later today.
"He will be attending the National Economic Council meeting this morning as expected."
Now, just because Event A happened before Event B doesn't necessarily mean one caused the other. Global Voices Online has translated a spectrum of views from the Chinese web. Netizens, it would appear, are divided. Some like Lao Wan (老碗) have remarked:
中国奶的确没让世界人民失望Others like Song Shi Nan (宋石男), who we're told is a pretty well-known blogger, smell a conspiracy to do China in:Chinese milk didn't disappoint the world. [Translation by GVO]
在我看来，事件真相有两个可能：While debate continues to rage on the Chinese internets over just what happened, the British media at this point appear to be completely clueless about Mandelson's milk drinking episode in Tianjin — which was repeated ad nauseum throughout the Chinese media but found limited coverage back in the UK. Neither The Guardian nor The Telegraph (nor any other British paper that we checked) mentioned Mandelson's little milk drinking adventure in reporting his kidney stone diagnosis. The first paper to make a clear link between Mandelson's Tianjin trip and his current health problems as far as we know is The Australian, which noted on Oct 8: British politician Peter Mandelson ill after yoghurt in China.1、曼德尔森早就知道自己有肾结石，故意当众喝中国牛奶，是在落井下石。
2、曼德尔森不知道自己有肾结石，勇敢地当众喝中国牛奶，是好心办了坏事。
In my opinion, there are two possibilities of the truth:
1. Mandelson had known his kidney stones long ago, but simply drank Chinese milk at public to further ridicule China.
2. He had no idea with his kidney stones, and drank milk out of good intention, but just worked out something awful. [Translation by GVO]
Did Mandelson know about his kidney stone before his China trip? Or was his ailment caused by drinking melamine-tainted milk? Did he know he was going to quit as EU Trade Commissioner and that he would be getting a new job as Business Secretary? These are all interesting questions that inquiring minds will ask. After all, this guy isn't just another ordinary politician. The Guardian describes him as one of the key architects of New Labour together with Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. In 1994, Mandelson had had a very public falling out with Brown when he chose to back Blair for the Labour leadership and his invitation to rejoin the cabinet is a move that has stunned Westminster, and apparently surprised Mandelson himself.
Many British citizens, are not amused at Mandelson's reincarnation as a cabinet minister. Here are a few letters sent in to The Telegraph that give you a picture of what they're thinking:
Peter Mandelson has a coffee on Thursday, is offered a new job in government and accepts there and then.We have someone who is so good at his job he can leave when he wants, start a new job immediately and get a place in the House of Lords all in a single day.
No wonder we are in a mess.
Rob Price, Cressage, Shropshire
Dismissed, not once, but twice. Unelected, but handed a peerage and returned to the Cabinet.
Is this the type of democracy that our brave troops are dying to introduce to Iraq and Afghanistan?
John Beadle, Cobham, KentHow shrewd of Gordon Brown to remind us that he isn't the most despised politician in Britain.
Cyril Berkeley, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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lol this is funny
but seriously though you cannot get kidney stone by just drinking a glass of that milk, even babies have to drink many months to get it , let alone an adult.
LOL LOL but I have to say this is such a coincidence lol .
Peter Mandelson - what a piece of work he is. Gordon Brown giving him another job is just another episode in the farce that is British politics.
What a delightfully misleading headline!
That's what he gets for being a shameless panda licker. Care to guess where the milk and cheese in his refrigerator comes from? UK or France, but not lead and melamine tainted, badirty China.
funny
Nice try western media to smear China!
uh larboard, the report from the Telegraph did not mention a single word about China.
Buck Rogerz, care to tell me how you think the headline is misleading?
The headline implies causality. That is definitely misleading as there is zero chance that he developed a kidney stone within 9 days. But the insinuation is controversial which is why it gets people's attention.
@ Buck Rogerz
Under normal circumstances such as bad diet, it can take a while for kidney stones to form, but rapid stone formation could be the body's reaction to the presence of melamine or a by-product of the body's attempt to metabolize melamine. So rapid kidney stone formation is entirely possible and China is suffering another loss of face, as if China had any face to begin with.
To nanheyangrouchuan
You are so simple and predictable.
Any report of single adult poisoned by contaminated milk till now, except this Mendelson part of whose job was to block Chinese products to Europe?
He must be either a months-old baby girl or an adult who drank a glass of pure melamine or somebody like you who lives on putting worms in soup to bully restaurant owners.
That you got your ED in "bad China" doesnt mean you got everything bad in China.
@Buck Rogerz
Oh Wise One! How would you have worded the title pray tell?
The headline is a little drudgey (like the Drudge Report), but it works. Unless you want to focus on the online discussion element (which isn't very interesting), the current headline is a good way to be provocative and give legs to the story.
Right. Thanks for the enlightenment mate. And for taking back your "misleading" comment.
I recommend he drink some milk from Ukraine and let the radiation zap his kidney stones.
I'm not saying it's not misleading, but it is money.
You have no clue how rich this post has made me.
Personally, I like the headline. It highlights the irony of the situation and it isn't untrue. And most people who are really following the problem will know that it takes more then nine days to develop a kidney stone. Moreover, the use of the word "diagnose" doesn't rule out the long-term presence of a stone. It would be questionable if it said "X drinks Chinese milk, develops kidney stone nine days later" which would suggest that the second event was related to the first.
On a different note, I would say the reaction of some netizens shows a classic example of self-importance.
It seems the British media, and those from most of the rest of the world, haven't picked up the story. Yet many locals, including the cited blogger, feel it must be a way to make China lose face. Locally, we hear oodles about how the Western media misperceives China. How about how Chinese mispercieve the West and the Western media?
HA! LOL!