轉基因種子"被竊"之爭觸動公衆神經

A war of words in China has reignited public debate over just how far genetically modified food -- still mostly illegal here -- has already infiltrated the country.

一場口水戰再度激起了中國公衆對轉基因食品已在多大程度上滲透進中國的爭論。目前在中國，大多數轉基因食品仍是非法的。

The spat began as an investigation. In April, following on government reports that illegal GMO corn and cotton had been found on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, the nonprofit Greenpeace, which monitors GMO issues, dispatched two employees to learn more.

爭論是從一次調查開始的。4月份，在政府發佈報告稱在海南島發現非法轉基因玉米和棉花之後，一直關注轉基因問題的非營利組織綠色和平(Greenpeace)派出兩位員工尋找更多答案。

The two visited the area referenced in the report, a GMO development site run by Huazhong Agricultural University, one of the nation's leading research institutes on crop genetics. The pair took three bags of rice seeds just outside the trial-planting area belonging to the university, which is working to develop GMO rice strains. They were planning to see if GMO seeds from the trial site had found their way to adjacent farmland.

這兩位員工訪問了報告中提到的區域──華中農業大學運作的一個轉基因開發基地。華中農業大學是中國領先的作物基因研究機構之一。兩人在這所大學用於研發轉基因水稻品種的試驗田外取走三包水稻種子。他們計劃觀察來自試驗田的轉基因種子能否進入相鄰的農田。

Campus staff at the site, though, stopped them and demanded they return the seeds, saying the land outside the trial area also belonged to the university. The Greenpeace employees obliged, and were allowed to leave.

但在場的學校員工阻止了他們，並要求退還種子。學校員工說，試驗田外的土地也歸學校所有。綠色和平的員工答應了要求，並獲得放行。

That might have been the end of the story. But Huazhong, still upset by the incident, then published an article on its website that accused Greenpeace of thieving GMO rice seeds. Greenpeace shot back, denying the accusations, while also noting that the university's test bed was located less than 20 meters from surrounding farmland--an apparent breach of state law, which requires a minimum buffer of 100 meters.

這原本可能是故事的結尾。但華中農業大學仍對上述事件感到不滿，之後在其網站上發表了一篇文章，指責綠色和平盜竊轉基因水稻種子。綠色和平則進行回擊，否認華中農業大學的指控，並指出該校的試驗田距離周圍的農田不超過20米，明顯違反國家法律。根據國家法律，轉基因作物試驗田最少需要有100米的隔離緩衝帶。

University officials couldn't be immediately reached for comment.

記者無法立即聯繫到華中農業大學的管理人員置評。

The Ministry of Agriculture then weighed in. Without specifying Greenpeace by name, on Sunday, it said in a statement that said security around areas working to develop GMOs should be boosted. Greenpeace again responded, explaining why it had gone to the area, and suggested that 'problems with the management of GMO seeds planted on a trial basis at the university could have led to GMO seeds 'drifting' to areas outside the university.'

農業部對此做出了表態。該部門週日發佈了一份通知，通知並沒有點名綠色和平，但是表示應該加強轉基因實驗基地周邊的安全。綠色和平就此作出迴應，解釋了爲什麼會進入該地區，並表示“在調查過程中綠色和平注意到華中農業大學南繁基地存在管理問題，可能導致基因漂移風險”。

This isn't the first time Greenpeace has warned that illegal GMO grains may be running amok in China. The country is in the early stages of introducing GMO food into the human diet. While it has not yet allowed public sales of GMO grains, including rice, corn and wheat, it allows related scientific research and limited imports -- as long as the imports are used only for animal consumption. Some forms of GMO food are also permitted for humans if they've been processed, such as GMO soybeans used to manufacture soy oil. Even under these constraints, Chinese universities and companies do develop their own GMO strains.

這並非綠色和平第一次就轉基因穀物或在中國氾濫的問題做出警告。中國在生產人類可食用轉基因食品方面正處於初級階段。儘管中國尚未允許公開銷售包括轉基因大米、玉米以及小麥在內的轉基因穀物，但是該國允許進行相關的科學研究以及規模有限的進口，但這些進口轉基因穀物僅用於動物飼料。某些種類的轉基因食品也允許被人類食用，但前提是這些轉基因食品得到了加工，比如用於生產大豆油的轉基因大豆。儘管在這些限制條件下，中國的大學和企業仍在開發自己的轉基因品種。

But the prevalence of GMO food in China remains a hot potato. Public resistance to GMO continues to run deep, in part because GMOs are closely associated with fears of becoming reliant U.S. technology, which still dominates the GMO industry.

不過，轉基因食品在中國的推廣卻是一個棘手問題。公衆對於轉基因食品仍然有較深的抵抗情緒，其中部分原因在於轉基因產品與擔心依賴美國技術掛上了鉤。美國技術仍然在轉基因領域佔據主導力量。

One might say the feud in Hainan has reached a draw. No law enforcement official has gotten in touch with Greenpeace so far, and there hasn't been any sign of further investigations into the matter, Greenpeace spokesman Damin Tang said. Because the seeds were quickly returned, Greenpeace also had no conclusive evidence on whether GMO seeds had indeed 'drifted' off the Sanya campus.

有人可能會說海南的這起爭端打了個平手。綠色和平的發言人唐大 說，到目前爲止，沒有執法人員接觸綠色和平，也沒有對此事進行進一步調查的任何跡象。由於已經歸還了水稻種子，綠色和平也沒有確鑿的證據來說明轉基因種子是否已漂移出轉基因實驗基地。

The debate has nonetheless spilled into China's microblogging platforms, with opinions swinging between criticism of Greenpeace and suspicion of China's government. 'You have invited a thousand people to try to eat genetically modified rice,' a blogger wrote, referring to ' taste tests' for the public conducted by officials and academics using GMO rice . 'What position are you in to talk about stealing materials and keeping secrets? What are you afraid of losing?'

不過，這場爭論已蔓延至中國的微博平臺，人們在微博上發表了從批評綠色和平到質疑政府的各種意見。在提到政府官員和學者組織公衆“試吃”轉基因大米時，一位網友寫道：你們已經邀請了一千人試吃轉基因大米，你們站在什麼立場上說竊取轉基因實驗材料和保密？你們害怕丟什麼？

Others said the police should investigate Greenpeace. 'Do you know it's an extremist environmental group?' another wrote.

還有一些人認爲警方應該調查綠色和平。另一位網友寫道：你知道這是一個極端的環保組織嗎？

But there's already a sense of resignation that the spread of GMOs is well underway in China. 'Illegal GMO products have come into supermarkets, and the agricultural ministry still pretends to be unaware of it,' Cui Yongyuan, a former TV commentator, wrote on his verified Sina Weibo account.

不過，現在已讓人不由得感到轉基因作物正在中國推廣。前中央電視臺主持人崔永元在他實名認證的新浪微博上寫道：非法轉基因食品都進了超市，農業部還假裝不知道呢。