trade

Mad cow scare: protests turn violent

Sophie — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:43:17 +0200

Two weeks ago we published a post about the Internet-driven campaign in South Korea to boycott American beef imports because of fears of mad cow disease. Protests have since escalated in Seoul, where 60,000 demonstrators clashed with police at the weekend.

Protesters gathered in the square in front of the city hall, where riot police fired at them with water cannons. Around 300 were arrested during the strict police intervention (see video).

The campaign was launched in mid-May following a decision by the country's president to lift an embargo, in place since 2003, banning the import of American beef. Increasingly outrageous rumours began circulating, and Web users went as far as saying that even Alzheimer's could be transmitted from the "dangerous" meat. Read our post from the beginning of the crisis.

American beef causes Alzheimer’s, say South Korean Web users

Sophie — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:37:28 +0200

A frenzy of South Korean Internet users has convinced the nation through Web postings and text messages that Americans were sending beef infected with mad cow — so dangerous that the Americans refused to eat it — to the country, mobilising thousands to protest. A blogger in the country explains why.

The rumours started when President Lee Myung-bak signed a deal in April with the United States to lift a ban on American imported beef, after it had been forbidden in 2003 following a outbreak of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The USA offered the country a sweeping free trade pact if they agreed to import the beef, worth 850 million US dollars (542 million euros) a year to the USA. An online campaign soon ensued in South Korea, warning shoppers that American beef was so dangerous that the Americans themselves were eating Australian and Canadian products and sending their own abroad. Children were advised not to go to school because of high contagion risks, and warnings given that mad cow disease was a cause of Alzheimer's.

The country's president of only three months, Lee Myung-bak, was blamed for supposedly giving in under US pressure over the agreement. This weekend, the frenzy reached its peak, with tens of thousands of people demonstrating with banners reading "Don't sell mad cow!" and "Out with Lee Myung-bak!" Faced with the objections, the South Korean government today announced that it would effectively ban imports of US beef from cattle older than 30 months.

Start of a revolution in Belarus?

Julien — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 18:05:29 +0100

Belarus is one of the few remaining countries in the world where markets are entirely owned by the state. Inhabitants are, however, allowed to carry out small trade and sell their products in the street or on the markets, which is a good way of making a bit of money on the side for local people. But a new law recently introduced by the government will prohibit stall owners from employing anybody who is not a close-relative. The so-called Decree 760 therefore makes it impossible to run anything more than a one-man stand. On Monday, Belarusian market-traders stood up to the government and gathered in the streets to protest. They were quickly dispersed by the police. With another protest planned for Feb. 18, is there a revolution brewing in Belarus?