I got this email today from the Chinese Government:

Dear Bill,

Thank you for accepting to speak at the upcoming China International Food Safety & Quality Conference, September 24 – 25, 2008, Landmark Hotel & Tower, Beijing. We are honored to have you as a speaker on the program and look forward to your speech.

As a reminder, all speakers are expected to exercise diplomacy during your presentation. The CIFSQ Conference is intended to encourage healthy constructive dialogue and information exchange amongst industry players, government regulators and the scientific community to enhance food safety for all consumers.

Once again, welcome and I hope you have a productive and meaningful week ahead.

Sincerely,

Benny Sun
Program Manager
CIFSQ 2008

I wonder if they do not want me to talk about the tainted baby formula that has been blamed for killing four infants and sickening 6,200 in China since the scandal broke last week.  About 1,300 babies, mostly newborns, are in hospitals and 158 of them are suffering from acute kidney failure.  Thousands of parents across China are bringing their children to hospitals for health checks.  Assuming that all these numbers are even close to being accurate.

Hard not to notice – impossible not to talk about.