Why such a Big Fuss?

Via Drudge, World Tribune.com:

A Chinese cosmetics company has been using skin taken from the bodies of executed convicts to develop beauty products for sale in Europe, a London newspaper reported. An agent for the company informed customers it is developing collagen for lip and wrinkle treatments from skin taken from prisoners after they had been shot.

The agent said some of the company‘s products have been exported to Britain, and that the use of skin from condemned convicts was “traditional" and nothing to “make such a big fuss about,“ the Guardian reported

In addition to ethical concerns, there is the potential risk of infection from the harvested skin products.

Given the number of political prisoners in China and arbitrary law, I suppose if demand picks up, they could just round up a few more people to harvest. But there's more:

“A lot of the research is still carried out in the traditional manner using skin from the executed prisoners and aborted fetus," the agent was quoted as saying.

And given China's one child policy, there is now an additional material incentive for the government to crack down on that for more human raw material.