Taiwanese 'brawl' over bad milk

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Taiwanese TV captured what appeared to be a scuffle with the minister

Taiwan's health minister Yeh Ching-chuan has been admitted to hospital after a lawmakers' scuffle reported to be over the tainted Chinese milk saga.

Hospital staff say Mr Yeh suffered heart palpitations and dizziness.

He was pushed around and grabbed by the neck by opposition MPs as he tried to leave parliament, according to members of the governing party.

Members of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) deny using any violence against Mr Yeh.

Tensions are high in Taiwan due to criticism of the government's handling of the milk scare.

Mr Yeh became health minister last week after his predecessor resigned amid accusations that he had been too lax about products from China contaminated with the chemical melamine.

More than a dozen Asian and African countries, plus the 27-member European Union, have taken steps to ban or otherwise limit consumption of Chinese milk-product imports.

Click here to see a map of countries affected

As well as making about 50,000 babies ill in China, the tainted milk products have been blamed for the deaths of four babies there.

Four people in Taiwan, five children in Hong Kong and one child in Macau also reportedly developed kidney stones after drinking tainted Chinese products.

'Don't use violence!'

Television images show the minister being surrounded by a group of people as reporters shout "Don't use violence!"

Chang Shuo-wen, an MP from the ruling Kuomintang party (KMT) who was with the minister at the time, said opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) MPs had tried to prevent Mr Yeh leaving the floor after a meeting with bakery owners.

"Someone grabbed the minister's neck and he could hardly breathe," Mr Chang told the Taiwanese Central News Agency.

DPP lawmakers deny using violence, and the party's supporters say the person who grabbed Mr Mr Yah was actually a member of the KMT.

The opposition has accused the government of wavering over food safety standards.

"Nobody is clear on the government's policy and testing standards on melamine," said the DPP Whip, Ker Chien-ming.

"Yeh is avoiding explaining the policy and he is incompetent."

Melamine is used in making plastics and is high in nitrogen, which makes products appear to have a higher protein content.

Health experts say that ingesting small amounts does no harm but sustained use can cause kidney stones and renal failure, especially among the young.