Dairy chairwoman on trial over milk scandal

THE chairwoman of a Chinese dairy company went on trial yesterday over a tainted milk scandal that has killed at least six children and made thousands ill.

Tian Wenhua, 66-year-old former general manager of the now bankrupt Sanlu Group, pleaded guilty to charges of “producing and selling fake or substandard products,” state-run Xinhua news agency said.

Tian appeared with three other company executives at a court in Shijiazhuang, capital of northern Hebei province. It was unclear whether they could face the death penalty as the Xinhua report said the maximum sentence for the charges was life imprisonment.