【英语国际】美国会调查：中国从未对问题肝素进行调查

The Chinese government didn't pursue an investigation into contaminated heparin sent to the U.S. in 2007 and 2008, despite repeated requests from the U.S. for help, according to a congressional probe.

Two House Republicans said Food and Drug Administration officials recently told them that the agency has been 'severely hampered' by the lack of cooperation from China in finding those responsible. Contamination in the widely used blood-thinner was linked to at least 81 deaths in the U.S.

The probe by Reps. Joe Barton and Michael Burgess, both from Texas, comes as FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg prepares for her first trip to China since assuming her post last year.

'It is shocking to find out two years after Chinese-made heparin was killing Americans, the Chinese government still has done no investigating to find out why,' said Mr. Barton, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He called on Ms. Hamburg to air the issue with Chinese officials.

A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, Wang Baodong, said China 'took a serious attitude toward the situation ... and provided full cooperation to the U.S. side.'

'The company that produced heparin in China is an American company and the heparin product is completely for exporting to the U.S., so it's up to the relevant U.S. agencies to supervise and regulate,' he added.

A spokeswoman for the FDA said Wednesday that 'there are serious limitations on what the FDA can do to pursue civil and criminal investigations in foreign countries, especially without the cooperation of the foreign government.'

In a June 16 letter to the congressmen, the FDA wrote that it was 'denied full access' to manufacturers of raw heparin in China.

Mr. Barton and Mr. Burgess said the FDA told members of Congress that China hasn't had any breakthroughs in the investigation, which they said left the 'misleading impression' that 'there was some kind of open investigation.'

In fact, Chinese security authorities told a U.S. official in Beijing on June 18, 2008, that China wasn't investigating the heparin issue as either a criminal or administrative matter, according to the congressmen.

据美国国会的一项调查显示，尽管美国反复请求帮助，中国政府却并没有对2007年和2008年输往美国的问题肝素进行调查。

两名共和党众议员说，美国食品和药物管理局(FDA)官员最近对他们说，由于在追究责任人上缺乏中国方面的配合，FDA的工作“严重受阻”。肝素是一种广泛使用的血液稀释剂。问题肝素在美国造成了至少81人死亡。

得克萨斯州共和党众议员巴顿(Joe Barton)和伯吉斯(Michael Burgess)进行调查之际正值FDA局长汉堡(Margaret Hamburg)准备去年上任以来的首次访华之行。

众议院能源和商务委员会(House Energy and Commerce Committee)中职位最高的共和党人巴顿说，我们很震惊地发现，在中国产肝素造成美国人死亡之后两年，中国政府依然没有对事故原因进行任何调查。他呼吁汉堡向中国官员提出这个问题。

中国驻美国大使馆发言人王保东说，中国严肃看待这一事件，并向美方提供了全力配合。

他还说，在中国生产肝素的这家企业是一家美国公司，肝素产品全部出口美国，因此美国有关部门应该进行监督和管理。

FDA发言人周三说，FDA在外国寻求民事和刑事调查方面所能做严重受限，特别是在没有外国政府配合的情况下。

FDA在6月16日发给议员们的信中说，它被拒绝对中国粗肝素生产商进行彻底调查。

巴顿和伯吉斯说，FDA对国会议员们说，中国在调查上没有取得任何突破性的进展，他们说这给人留下了使人误解的印象，让人们以为正在进行公开的调查。

据议员们说，实际上，2008年6月18日，中国安全部门对一位驻华美国官员说，中国并没有把肝素问题作为一个刑事或行政问题进行调查。