…In 1992, China became the first country to introduce a GMO crop into commercial production… virus-resistant tobacco… Since then, the government has issued safety certificates for a wide range of GMO crops… Yet, so far at least, only cotton has gone into wide cultivation…
…[T]he government is clearly worried about widespread public opposition to GMOs, which is showing up on social media and among the urban middle class.
The first source of that opposition is a widespread belief that GMOs are a foreign conspiracy against Chinese health… In 2013, a major general in the People’s Liberation Army wrote an op-ed for …[the] Global Times newspaper that compared GMOs to biological weapons.
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But the far more damaging source of anti-GMO sentiment is the broadly held certainty that the government is incapable of ensuring a safe food supply — GMO, or otherwise. It’s a legitimate concern. For three decades, China has suffered through a string of food safety scandals, including dead pigs floating in the Yangtze River and rats masquerading as hotpot mutton.
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…[U]ntil the Chinese government addresses the lack of confidence in its food safety programs, in particular, it’s likely to face considerable and growing opposition to [its] GMO program…
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: China Wants GMOs. The Chinese People Don’t.
