The Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court heard the case in an open court and sentenced the reporter,Zi Beijia, to prison for allegedly engineering the hoax to further his career as a reporter.

Zi apologized for his wrong thinking and now sees that he was not thinking correctly.

It is the opinion of many citizens in China that the cardboard dumpling incident was real and not a hoax, but that it is better for the country to promote a more harmonious society by declaring it a hoax and punishing the reporter.

It is difficult to tell truth from illusion in this situation. What we do know is that this accusation and film of dumpling makers grinding cardboard and mixing it with pork to make filling for their dumplings caused embarrassment for the Chinese in an international arena.

The list of unsafe foodstuffs and consumer products produced in China grows longer everyday and China is anxious to reassure the world as to the safety of their products.

The Chinese government is publicizing this incident as a hoax.