 Fake construction materials may cause RAILWAY CRASH
Now, China faces new problem...
*Fake medicine
*Fake handphone batteries
*Fake foods
WHILE the rest of the world worries about questionable food and consumer products being exported from China, it seems that even domestic industries aren't safe from fakes either.
Fake construction material is jeopardising the safety of China's newest high-speed railway, reported China Economic Times.
An investigation by the newspaper found that large quantities of bogus material had been used in several hundred kilometres of a US$12 billion ($18.3b) high-speed railway between the cities of Wuhan and Guangzhou.
The newspaper said that the scam by unscrupulous suppliers could lead to cracking in the railway's concrete supports, creating a 'great danger' to the railway.
The report, published this week, has triggered an investigation by the Chinese Railways Ministry.
Canada's Globe and Mail reported that the railway's contractors had been tricked into buying large quantities of fake or deficient coal fly ash, a common ingredient in concrete.
BLINDED BY GREED
The newspaper described the suppliers as 'profiteers blinded by greed'.
It published several photos of trucks loaded with fake fly ash and factories where the material is produced.
It said the bogus material was discovered in March by a construction engineer, who noticed a blockage in a pipe where concrete was being poured.
Such blockages are uncommon, and he suspected it was caused by phony fly ash.
The fake material looks identical to the genuine material, and only laboratory testing can tell them apart.
The high-speed railway, designed to carry trains at speeds up to 350kmh between two of China's biggest cities, is currently under construction.
It has also been described as the longest and most technologically advanced high-speed railway in China, and it has been praised lavishly by the Chinese news media.
The report is the latest revelation in the widening scandal over shoddy and hazardous goods in China. The issue has emerged as a global concern, with many countries, including Canada, increasingly worried by the dangers of food and other products from China.
Almost 20 per cent of goods made in China for domestic consumption have failed China's own standards for safety or quality in the first half of this year, a government agency reported this week.
The tests focused on food products, fertilisers, farm machinery and common consumer goods.
SHUT DOWN
China has also announced that 180 food factories have been shut down in recent months because their products were contaminated with illegal materials such as formaldehyde, industrial dyes and paraffin wax.
Fake handphone batteries are another lethal danger.
This week, the Chinese media revealed that a number of counterfeit batteries have exploded in safety tests, killing a man was killed in western China last month.
Faced with mounting evidence of hazardous goods, the Chinese authorities have reacted ambivalently. They have announced crackdowns and safety campaigns.
But they have attacked the foreign news coverage of the hazardous products. 'I think it would be better if the media would stop playing up this issue,' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said this week.
Last week, Chinese censors went through every issue of Time magazine sold in China to tear out and destroy the first two pages of an article headlined 'The Growing Dangers of the China Trade'.
In response, China Daily has accused 'foreign protectionists' of using safety issues to discriminate against Chinese products.
It said in an editorial this week: 'Any bias against products with a 'made in China' tag does injustice to Chinese exports' overall good quality.' | 
