China exec pleads guilty to tainted milk

SHIJIAZHUANG, China, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- The ex-dairy executive at the center of China's tainted milk scandal has admitted producing and selling fake or substandard products, officials said.

Tian Wenhua, 66, ex-chairwoman and general manager of the Sanlu Group, the major dairy in the scandal, entered her plea Wednesday in Shijiazhuang, China, the latest among those tried in the tainted milk scandal which killed six children, Xinhua, China's state-run news agency, reported.

The trial for Tian and three other Sanlu executives concluded Wednesday night in Hebei province. A verdict will be announced at an unspecified future date.

At the end of the trial, one defendant, trade union Chairman Ran Weiguang, offered apologies on behalf of the company to the sickened children and their families, Xinhua reported.

Melamine-tainted milk products sickened about 294,000 infants in China. Sanlu Group, which stopped production on Sept. 12, has filed for bankruptcy, citing huge debts.

Tian told the court she learned about the tainted milk complaints from consumers in mid-May, setting up an investigatory committee led by her to handle the case. She said she was shown tests that showed only 20 milligrams of melamine per kilogram of raw milk, within European standards. But some Sanlu products were shown to have 2,563 milligrams per kilogram in tests conducted in September, Xinhua reported.

Besides the four Sanlu officials, 17 others have been charged with adding melamine-laced "protein powder" to milk or selling the tainted milk to Sanlu or other dairies.

Court sources said Wang Yuliang, one of the accused who was in a wheelchair, had lost the use of his legs in a suicide attempt, Xinhua said.

CNN reported 22 Chinese dairy producers that made the milk plan to compensate the victims.