China Prisoners = Skin Cream?
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Foreign Policy, The WorldThis is truly sickening, but given our strong ties with the government, expect this to go unnoticed:
A Chinese cosmetics company is using skin harvested from the corpses of executed convicts to develop beauty products for sale in Europe, an investigation by the Guardian has discovered.Agents for the firm have told would-be customers it is developing collagen for lip and wrinkle treatments from skin taken from prisoners after they have been shot. The agents say some of the company’s products have been exported to the UK, and that the use of skin from condemned convicts is “traditional” and nothing to “make such a big fuss about”.
With European regulations to control cosmetic treatments such as collagen not expected for several years, doctors and politicians say the discovery highlights the dangers faced by the increasing number of Britons seeking to improve their looks. Apart from the ethical concerns, there is also the potential risk of infection.
MPs on the Commons select health committee are to examine the regulatory system and may launch an investigation and question ministers about the need for immediate new controls. “I am sure that the committee will want to look at this,” said Kevin Barron, its Labour chairman. “This is something everyone in society will be very concerned about.”
Plastic surgeons are also concerned about the delay in introducing regulations to control the cosmetic treatments industry. Norman Waterhouse, a former president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, said: “I am surprised that we are taking the lead from the European commission, because this is bound to delay action on this important area which is increasingly a matter for concern. It seems like a bit of a cop out to me.”
Should we reconsider our relationship with this government? I think the answer is yes.
Sure, we’ve made sure that our economic future is linked to them, but this type of thing is clearly disgusting and cause for immediate concern. I hope we do the right thing and look into this.
Anything less would be inhumane and beneath us as a free nation.
From the story: The beauty products from the skin of executed Chinese prisoners
This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 14th, 2005 and is filed under Foreign Policy, The World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
September 14th, 2005 at 9:39 am
Is the outrage that the Chinese are executing prisoners? Or that they are using the prisoners bodies after they’re dead for commercial purposes? Perhaps we should fear that they will execute people on trumped up charges just simply to harvest their parts.
(Given that China is still at least an authoritarian society, if not still a totalitarian society, this might really miss an essential point. After all, when you’re dead, you’re dead. Does it matter if you were executed for harvesting or for belonging to the wrong political party, religion, or other grouping?)
Would it matter if the skin was instead being used for transplants on burn victims? (Or others needing skin grafts or other organs for some medical reason.) Or is it that this smacks too much of experimenting on humans? If so, would any of these arguements/concerns map to the debate on the use of fetal stem cells or human clones in medical research in this country?
Perhaps we should be wary because of the health risks. Are products derived in this way safe to use?
A tricky issue! Also, in what way should we rethink our relations with China? Should we take a more hostile diplomatic position? If so, is this wise considering they are the only nation that can possibly rein in North Korea? (Even China may not be capable of doing this.)
Trying to restrict trade with China on any kind of large scale would also be problematic. They are probably more dependent on us than we are on them, but they do hold a lot of dolars in their banks. That grants them a special kind of leverage.
September 14th, 2005 at 10:37 am
I appreciate the point, but China is known for jailing (and killing) people for speaking out against the government. Their human rights violations are WELL documented.
And this is a lot different than harvesting a week old embryo. Some would disagree with me on that, but oh well. I think the delta between the two is HUGE.
Concerning our relations with China, it’s tough since we’re so intertwined. Hopefully economic greed will stop behavior like this, but we’re talking about some amazingly awful stuff here. Using dead prisoner’s skin? Is that really the kind of government we want to be in bed with? I don’t think so. Better to enhance our relations with India and slowly, but surely, move our manufacturing over there. They can handle it, and they speak English too.
However, I realize that this is just wishful thinking.