The Hong Kong-based Sing Tao Daily reports that all officials who were punished in a toxic milk formula scandal in 2008 which poisoned 300,000 children in China have since resumed government posts.
Zhao Lianhai, a representative of the victims of the melamine incident, has expressed his disgust at this latest development.
The scandal emerged in July 2008, when 16 infants in China's northwestern province of Gansu were diagnosed with kidney stones. All of them had been fed milk powder produced by the Sanlu Group of Shijiazhuang city in northern China's Hebei province.
Government inspections found that the milk formula had been adulterated with melamine, an industrial chemical which had been added to boost the apparent protein content of the milk. In addition to Sanlu, products made by 21 other brands including Mengniu, Yili and Yashili were also found to be tainted.
Seven officials in Shijiazhuang, including then mayor Ji Chuntang, were fired or forced to resign due to the scandal. However, according to the Sing Tao Daily, Ji has taken up the post of deputy director of the Hebei industry and information technology department.
Zhang Fawang and Zhao Xinchao, two deputy mayors of Shijiazhuang who were also dismissed after the scandal, also made recent returns to government posts. To avoid public criticism, related government websites deliberately deleted these officials' backgrounds and information.
Ji confirmed his reinstatement to the newspaper and asked that his new assignment not be reported.
According to the Chinese health ministry, by November 2008 an estimated 300,000 children had suffered poisoning due to melamine-tained milk, of whom six died from kidney damage and 860 were hospitalized.
The issue revealed the problems of food safety and political corruption in China and damaged the reputation of the country's food exports. At least 27 nations including Taiwan stopped all imports of Chinese dairy products and the domestic industry has yet to recover, with many in China still insisting on imported foreign brands of milk formula despite its higher price.
A survey by state broadcaster CCTV in 2011 found that at least 70% of China's public still did not dare to buy domestic milk some three years after the scandal.
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