As Chinese courts refuse to accept suits seeking damages over the contamination of dairy supplies with the industrial chemical melamine, a group of victims under the name of Federation of Victims of Shengyuan Infant Milk Formula have hired a U.S. lawyer to claim compensation. This is the first time that a foreign lawyer involves in the toxic milk scandal.
Shengyuan group, one of the major Chinese diary manufacturers, owns a Delaware-registered venture capital company headquartered in Maryland. The linkage allows U.S. courts to have a jurisdiction over Shengyuan. The first trial is scheduled at a federal court in Maryland.
Mr. Liu, a representative of the group, said to RFA that “it is Shengyuan that violates the law, not we.”
On courts rejection of toxic milk lawsuits, Dr. Zhang Boshu at Chinese Academy of Social Science felt regretful. “We could have handled the issue through normal legal channels, which should be encouraged instead of suppressed by the government.”
Source:
RFA, October 20, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/lawyer-10202008102514.html