GMO proponent sustains online backlash

Xiang Dongliang shares knowledge of GM technology with friends at home. Photo by Liu Dongguang/for China Daily

Cui released a 68-minute-long documentary in March 2014 on his Sina Weibo account, claiming that the public did not have adequate knowledge about the dangers of biotechnology in the United States. The documentary further swung public opinion against GM technology, and Cui has remained a vocal activist against biotech methods in the agricultural sector.

In a policy document released last year, the central government said it would intensify efforts to tackle public misconceptions about GM products.

Chen Xiwen, deputy head of the Office of the Central Rural Work Leading Group, said at a news conference last year that China needed to at least create a fair and inclusive atmosphere for discussion of GM products.

The country has, so far, only approved the commercial production of genetically modified cotton and papaya. It has also issued GMO safety certificates for 41 strains of genetically modified agricultural produce developed by international agricultural businesses, allowing them to be imported to China, but only for processing. Any other purpose, such as seed cultivation, is banned, according to a regulation issued by the State Council in 2001.

All GM products on the market must be clearly labeled to ensure the public can make informed choices, according to a regulation issued by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Xiang said he was trying to answer calls from the authorities to bring the debate back to the actual science itself, and he decided to use social media to demonstrate that there are people who are actually eat GM food.

He obtained GM rice from a research institute at Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan, and GM corn flour from a research institute under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing. "The products were provided to me for tasting purposes only," he said.

He also purchased GM papaya and canola oil.