China says poison dumplings "sabotaged"
BEIJING, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Chinese-made dumplings which made 10 people sick in Japan had been sabotaged, most probably in Japan, China's security and quality watchdogs said on Thursday.
Tokyo and Beijing had called for close cooperation in investigating the case, which prompted huge Japanese media coverage following a series of health scares over Chinese products ranging from pet food and toys to toothpaste.
"The poisoning incident in Japan caused by dumplings imported from a food plant in northern China, was a special case of sabotage and it's unlikely it happened in China," Xinhua news agency said, quoting health officials.
"After comprehensive investigation, we believe there's little chance that methamidophos (a pesticide) was put into dumplings in China," Xinhua quoted Yu Xinmin, deputy director of the criminal investigation bureau with the Ministry of Public Security, as telling a news conference.
The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said it had come to the same conclusion after finding no harmful chemicals in samples and no abnormal operations on the part of the Chinese producer.
The poisoning is a delicate matter for Sino-Japanese ties, sensitive at the best of times over Japanese wartime atrocities in China.
Chinese food quality officials had already said that sample tests on the frozen dumplings, ingredients and packaging at the factory concerned had found no pesticide.
(Reporting by Nick Macfie; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
