The Portrait of a Corrupted "Olympic Host" -- The magic power of ants

The magic power of ants

Last Modified: 22 Feb 2008

By: Lindsey Hilsum

The plight of China's ant farmers speaks volumes about the dangerously
unregulated and corrupt nature of Chinese capitalism.

As we landed in Shenyang, the captain uttered the dreaded words: "The
outside temperature is minus 18..."

Winter is bleak in northeastern China and few places more so than
Shenyang, where after the collapse of state-owned factories, those who
were once protected by the Communist "iron rice bowl" of job security
now scrabble to survive.

The story we had come to investigate speaks volumes about the
dangerously unregulated and corrupt nature of Chinese capitalism.

Eight years ago, an entrepreneur called Wang Fengyou started a business
making aphrodisiacs and health potions from squashed ants. Most of his
profit came not from product sales, but from fees which people paid to
get boxes of live ants which they reared on egg yolk and cake.

On Feb 28, 4:53 pm, Micky Wong wrote:

Where have either one of you been? This news was hot sh!t back in
November:

There have been plenty of reports on the ant farmers in Shenyang. Try
this Sohu search:

http://www.sogou.com/sohu?query=%%D2%%CF%%C1%%A6%%C9%%F1+%%C9%%F2%%D1%%F4&num=10&p...

Also, search for "蚁力神" alone, will yield many articles questioning
this Amway-style herbal viagra MLM company, going back as far as 2004.

- Doesn't the Chinese government have the responsibility to safegaure
the public interest?