Originally published November 24 2015
China banning anti-GMO websites as communist nation attempts to buy GM seed companies for domination of world food supply
by J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) In much the same way the Obama administration attempts to control the narrative and debate in matters of politics, national security and intelligence he doesn't like, the Chinese government is now trying to control the debate over genetically modified (GM) foods and seeds by banning news content sites that inform the public.
In recent days, the GMO information site Sustainable Pulse, one of the globe's largest and most respected sustainable agriculture information sites, was blocked by China's communist government censors "in all of mainland China, shortly after ChemChina launched a failed $ 42 billion bid to buy the largest Global pesticide company – Syngenta," the website reported.
"This is yet another example of the Chinese government trying to stop its citizens from informing themselves about topics that could possibly damage Chinese business," said Sustainable Pulse Director Henry Rowlands, in criticizing the ban.
"China has gone from sitting on the fence regarding the use of GM crops, to being one of the main Global 'pushers' of GMOs over the last 12 months. This will lead to a disaster for both the environment and human health in China over the coming years," he said, as quoted by the site.
Wait! What? Didn't China used to ban GMOs?
The blocking was met with derision and anger by China-based activists who are opposed to the infiltration of GMO crops in the country. They had been relying on the media source as a reliable arbiter of independent, non-corporate owned, GMO and pesticide news for the past several years.
The website found out about the blocking in recent days, following news that the China National Chemical Corporation, known as ChemChina, was in negotiations to purchase Syngenta, based in Switzerland. Had it gone down, it would have been the largest acquisition to date by a Chinese company. And though the initial $42 billion bid for the Swiss pesticide manufacturer was initially rejected, officials familiar with the negotiations told Bloomberg Business that there remains a strong interest in making the deal.
If it does indeed go through, then ChemChina would become one of the world's biggest GMO developers, putting it in direct competition with the globe's GMO leader, St. Louis-based Monsanto.
The government's ban of Sustainable Pulse is odd when you consider that, in the past, Beijing has banned importation of GMO foods from the U.S., with the specific aim of preventing GMO contamination among Chinese agriculture. Ironically, a recent ban pertained to a Syngenta product.
As reported in June 2014 by the website GM Education, which cited a Reuters story, the Chinese government "stopped issuing import permits for distillers dried grains (DDGs), an important animal feed, because of continuing GMO contamination from Syngenta's MIR 162 GMO maize (corn) variety which is not approved by China."
Profit over ideology every time
And Natural News also added:
"... effective June 6, U.S. shipments of dried distillers' grains, which are known in the industry as DDGS, can no longer [be] exported into the country because the Chinese government has declared them to have a high risk of contaminating MIR 162, a GMO strain that China hasn't approved ..."
"It looks like the government is determined to stop any form of corn imports from the U.S.," said Sylvia Shi, an analyst at Shanghai JC Intelligence Co.
The Sustainable Pulse ban is likely tied to a change in heart in the Chinese government – which owns China National Chemical Corporation. It appears as though Beijing has abandoned its once-ideological objection to GMO products in a bid to acquire a global corporation that, unfortunately, is highly profitable. And it wouldn't be the first time that corporate interest trumped what was medically or ecologically sound.
According to Bloomberg Business, Chinese President Xi Jinping said of the Syngenta acquisition that his country must "boldly research and innovate, [and] dominate the high points of GMO techniques."
And you thought it was just American corporations that were "evil."
Sources:
SustainablePulse.com
NationalSecurity.news
WashingtonExaminer.com
Bloomberg.com
GMEducation.org
NaturalNews.com
Evil.news
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