China issues arrest warrant for milk-scandal activist

Beijing - Chinese authorities issued an arrest warrant for the father of a child who fell ill during a contaminated milk scandal and had set up a website to help other parents, a human rights group reported Tuesday. Zhao Lianhai, whose son was one of 300,000 children affected after drinking melamine-tainted milk powder, had been taken away by police on November 13, the activist group China Human Rights Defenders said.

The warrant, issued on Thursday, now formalizes his arrest, and indicates that the authorities plan a trial against the activist.

Zhao had set up a website, Jieshi Baobao (kidney stone babies) and tried to organize parents of other affected babies online and fight for compensation.

Police in November also searched Zhao's house and confiscated two computers, the group said, citing information from Zhao's wife.

According to official reports, six children died and more than 300,000 became ill from industrial chemical melamine that was added to milk powder and other Chinese milk products.

The scandal was hushed up for several months during last year's Beijing Olympics and only became public in September 2008, when hospitals were overcrowded with sick infants.

Some families have already received compensation from the companies involved in the incident.