The “News Breadth” program of China National Radio’s Voice of China channel reported recently that sales people at a wholesale market in the southern city of Dongguan was found to be selling fake black pepper made out of soil and white flour for sixty yuan per kilogram. One seller of the fake product reportedly responded to questioning from the reporter with the following justification: “This isn’t poisonous. No one would die from eating it. There’s nothing to be afraid of.” In the above cartoon, posted by the Kunming-based studio Yuan Jiao Man’s Space (圆觉漫时空) to QQ.com, a pair of knavish red-nosed moles fill white bags labeled “pepper” with soil and sell it with a thumbs up to very unsure-looking customers.


David Bandurski

CMP Director

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