For the last 10 years, Wang Ying has been talking to her
husband, Zhang Guangpu, in her dreams he died due to excessive
drinking.
"Everyone should know of the harms excessive drinking can
cause," said the 52-year-old teacher of political science at
Xuchang Broadcasting University in central China's Henan
Province.
Zhang, a government official, died in 1997, and since then, Wang
has been waging a battle against breweries to publicize the dangers
of heavy drinking.
"The face of my dying husband is etched in my memory. I will
continue my mission to reveal the harmful effects of alcohol," Wang
told
China Daily.
She wants all breweries to label their products with a warning,
just as tobacco manufacturers are required to do.
Wang's battle has so far met with only partial
success.?
The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection
and Quarantine (GAQSIQ) recommended in 2005 that all alcoholic
products should be labeled "extreme drinking is harmful to your
health".
However, in September last year, the GAQSIQ decided to postpone
implementation for a year, following complaints by breweries and
distillers they had huge stocks of old labels to use up.
Wang and Zhang initially had a happy and peaceful life in Wugang
of central China's Henan Province.
But that happiness was soon shattered by Zhang's heavy drinking
which led to numerous quarrels between the couple.
"I could not persuade him to give up, so I read medical books
about the dangers of alcohol," Wang said.
She found that the World Health Organization (WHO) and
authoritative medical institutions had listed dozens of harmful
additives in alcohol.
"But when I thought I had enough evidence to convince my husband
to give up drinking, he suddenly suffered an acute pancreas
disease, and died two days later in hospital," Wang said.
She subsequently leant there had been a number of deaths in her
neighborhood from diseases related to excessive drinking of
alcohol.
"I decided that I had to do something about it," Wang said.
In March 1998, encouraged by consumer rights activists, Wang
filed a lawsuit in Luohe Intermediary Court against Henan-based
Fupingchun Brewery, whose Fupingchun beer was her husband's
favorite brand.
Wang sought compensation of 600,000 yuan ($75,000) for her
husband's death, products to bear labels that "drinking is harmful
to your health" and a listing of each product's contents.
"If the court ruled one brewery to list the harmful effects,
others would follow," said Wang, adding that the large amount of
compensation she sought would also act a deterrent to other
breweries.
She admitted her request for "drinking alcohol is harmful to
your health" labels was the first of its kind.
"But since tobacco manufacturers are compelled to have such
labels, why can't we do the same thing for alcohol?" Wang said.
As a registered lawyer, Wang did not initially see the need to
hire another lawyer. Later, she changed her mind.
She halved her compensation claim to save on litigation fees,
and hired a lawyer.
The lawyer suggested Wang only pursue the compensation claim, as
the warning labels request "looked too unrealistic to achieve".
But Wang insisted. She prepared a 17-page indictment, listing
the various harmful effects of drinking.
In an interview by China's Central Television (CCTV), the ruling
judge, who declined to appear on camera, at Wang's first hearing
admitted it was the first such case he had ever heard.
"Everyday I would receive a letter from Wang, containing new
evidence against drinking," the judge told CCTV.
Wang lost her first case in early 1999. The court said she could
not prove that the brewery was at fault and there existed no State
regulation requiring breweries to label the dangers of
drinking.
In an interview with CCTV, a representative of the accused
brewery argued that everyone knows excessive drinking causes harm,
just like excessive eating. This is a common fact that no one pays
too much attention to.
But Wang was not convinced.
"The Consumer Rights Protection Law requires other producers of
goods to list the harmful and potentially harmful contents of their
products. I think we just cannot abandon this requirement for
breweries simply because there is no stated regulation," she
said.
She filed an appeal to the Henan Supreme Court, and after losing
the appeal three months later, she submitted an application for a
re-ruling to the Supreme People's Court. The court asked the Henan
Supreme Court to review the case, and in early 2000, Wang once
again lost.
Again these failures did not deter Wang.
"At first, I was limiting the case more to myself and felt less
confident, but with the repeated appeals and rulings, I collected
more evidence and my will to liberate people from the ignorance of
the dangers of alcohol became firmer," she said.
Wang started collecting evidence on the harmful effect of
alcohol from news reports and by interviewing victims and their
relatives.
However, she found few were willing to talk because of the
shame.
"This situation illustrates victims and their relatives would
rather reproach themselves than the breweries," Wang said.
While litigation was still going on, Wang submitted a letter to
the State Quality and Technology Supervision Bureau the predecessor
of GAQSIQ in late 1998, requiring breweries to indicate the harms
of drinking.
A bureau official replied thanking Wang for her letter, but
pointed out there was no such labeling worldwide, so this could not
be done in China.
Wang then repeatedly wrote letters to the bureau and its
successor GAQSIQ. Most went unanswered.
She also adopted other strategies.
After Wang lost the first round of hearings against Fupingchun
Brewery, she filed an application to the National Trademark
Commission, asking it to revoke the trademark of the brewery.
"Fupingchun's literal meaning is rich, peace and youth, but how
can a harmful thing like alcohol bring rich, peace and youth to
people?" Wang said.
Wang's application was rejected in June by the commission, and
she immediately sued the commission in the Beijing Intermediary
Court for nonfeasance.
Wang lost the case last month.
In November, Wang also sued GAQSIQ in the Beijing Intermediary
Court for its decision to postpone the implementation of
labeling.
She also lost that case, knowing she did not stand a chance of
winning.
"In a sense, my repeated litigation failures have advanced
consumer protection and the progress of the rule of law in
China.
"My failures have made people aware there are legal ways to
achieve a just cause," Wang said.
(China Daily January 10, 2007)
