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.一场口水战再次引发了中国公众对转基因食品已在多大程度上渗入入中国的争辩。目前在中国，大多数转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.争辩就是指一次调查开始的。4月份，在政府公布报告称之为在海南岛找到非法转基因玉米和棉花之后，仍然注目转基因问题的非营利的组织绿色和平(Greenpeace)派遣两位员工找寻更加多答案。The two visited the area referenced in the report, a GMO development site run by Huazhong Agricultural University, one of the nations 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.这两位员工采访了报告中提及的区域──华中农业大学运作的一个转基因研发基地。

华中农业大学是中国领先的作物基因研究机构之一。两人在这所大学用作研发转基因水稻品种的试验田外拿走三包水稻种子。他们计划仔细观察来自试验田的转基因种子能否转入邻接的农田。

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.但到场的学校员工制止了他们，并拒绝归还种子。学校员工说道，试验田外的土地也归学校所有。绿色和平的员工答允了拒绝，并取得盘查。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 universitys 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.这原本有可能是故事的结尾。

但华中农业大学仍对上述事件深感反感，之后在其网站上公开发表了一篇文章，谴责绿色和平偷窃转基因水稻种子。绿色和平则展开还击，坚称华中农业大学的指控，并认为该校的试验田距离周围的农田不多达20米，显著违背国家法律。

根据国家法律，转基因作物试验田最多必须有100米的隔绝缓冲带。University officials couldnt be immediately reached for comment.记者无法立刻联系到华中农业大学的管理人员置评。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.农业部回应作出了表态。

该部门周日公布了一份通报，通报并没严厉批评绿色和平，但是回应应当强化转基因实验基地周边的安全性。绿色和平早已做出对此，说明了为什么不会转入该地区，并回应“在调查过程中绿色和平注意到华中农业大学南繁基地不存在管理问题，有可能造成基因飘移风险”。

This isnt 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 theyve 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.这并非绿色和平第一次就转基因谷物或在中国洪水泛滥的问题作出警告。中国在生产人类可食用转基因食品方面正处于初级阶段。

尽管中国仍未容许公开发表销售还包括转基因大米、玉米以及小麦在内的转基因谷物，但是该国容许展开涉及的科学研究以及规模受限的进口，但这些进口转基因谷物仅有用作动物饲料。某些种类的转基因食品也容许被人类食用，但前提是这些转基因食品获得了加工，比如用作生产大豆油的转基因大豆。

尽管在这些容许条件下，中国的大学和企业仍在研发自己的转基因品种。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.不过，转基因食品在中国的推展毕竟一个棘手问题。公众对于转基因食品依然有较深的抵抗情绪，其中部分原因在于转基因产品与担忧倚赖美国技术挂上了钩。美国技术依然在转基因领域占有主导力量。

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 hasnt 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.有人可能会说道海南的这起争端打了个平手。绿色和平的发言人唐大 说道，到目前为止，没执法人员认识绿色和平，也没对此事展开更进一步调查的任何迹象。由于早已交还了水稻种子，绿色和平也没佐证的证据来解释转基因种子否已飘移出有转基因实验基地。

The debate has nonetheless spilled into Chinas microblogging platforms, with opinions swinging between criticism of Greenpeace and suspicion of Chinas 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?不过，这场争辩已蔓延到至中国的微博平台，人们在微博上公开发表了从抨击绿色和平到批评政府的各种意见。在提及政府官员和学者的组织公众“试吃”转基因大米时，一位网友写到：你们早已邀了一千人试吃转基因大米，你们车站在什么立场上说道盗取转基因实验材料和保密？你们惧怕丢什么？Others said the police should investigate Greenpeace. Do you know its an extremist environmental group? another wrote.还有一些人指出警方应当调查绿色和平。另一位网友写到：你告诉这是一个极端的环保的组织吗？But theres 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.不过，现在已让人不由得深感转基因作物正在中国推展。

前中央电视台主持人崔永元在他发帖证书的新浪微博上写到：非法转基因食品都入了餐馆，农业部还假装不告诉呢。

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