Head of Chinese toy company commits suicide

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The head of a Chinese toy manufacturing company at the center of a huge US recall has committed suicide, a state-run newspaper said Monday. Zhang Shuhong, who ran the Lee Der Industrial Co. Ltd., killed himself at a warehouse over the weekend, days after China said it had temporarily banned exports by the company, the Southern Metropolis Daily said. Lee Der made 967,000 toys recalled earlier this month by Mattel Inc. because they were made with paint found to have excessive amounts of lead. The plastic preschool toys, sold under the Fisher-Price brand in the US, included the popular Big Bird, Elmo, Dora and Diego characters.