Health ministry officials have widely criticized the election of a researcher of low-tar cigarettes to the prestigious Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), affirming that no tobacco product should be marketed as "safe" for the public.

Xie Jianping, 52, vice-president of the Zhengzhou Tobacco Research Institute of China National Tobacco Corp, was inducted into the academy on Dec 8 for his research since 2005 on tar reduction in filter cigarettes.[File photo]

At a press conference on Tuesday, Health Ministry spokesman Deng Haihua refused to comment the election of the researcher, Xie Jianping. But he emphasized that China's tobacco control remains a difficult, long-term task which requires the joint efforts of all facets of society.

Former vice health minister Wang Longde said in his microblog that Xie's election violated a WHO convention.

The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which was approved by the National People's Congress in August 2005, states that tobacco product packaging and labeling should not promote a tobacco product by any means that are false, misleading, deceptive, including terms such as "low tar", "light", "ultra-light", or "mild". The convention is as legally binding in China as local laws, Wang said.

"Cigarette has over 60 cancer-causing substances," Wang said. "It is unlikely to remove all of them." Reducing the harm of cigarette by lowering tar has been proved to be impossible by the international community.

Last December a U.S. report said that decades of research proved that any exposure to tobacco smoke is harmful.

Wang said the CAE academician election procedure also needs to be improved. "In most cases experts in one research area have to vote for their counterparts in other research areas although they have little knowledge about their research areas," he said.

Wei Fusheng, an academician, who voted in favor of Xie, claimed that Xie's tar reduction research has been very helpful for tobacco control. "The tobacco industry is one of the main taxpayers, which is important for the country's development," Wei said. His remarks have been widely denounced by the health community.

Yang Jie, a researcher with the National Tobacco Control Office, went a step further to explain Xie's comment: "Either he is ignorant, or is misled or cheated or represents the tobacco interest group."

Wang Ke'an, director of the Think Tank Research Center for Health Development and former president of the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, who sent a letter to the CAE, rejected the idea that tobacco industry is a major source of tax revenue. He said the direct and indirect cost of treating smoking-related health problems last year was much higher than tax revenues collected from tobacco producers.

Wu Yiqun, an anti-smoking activist, wrote in her microblog, "What is more important, prevention of disease or death caused by smoking or secondhand smoke or tobacco tax revenue?"

She also urged academicians to recall what Premier Wen Jiabao once said, "We cannot sacrifice people's health for economic development."

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