US senator's 'sewage garlic' claim draws ridicule

An anti-China hawk in the United States Congress recently claimed that China has compromised US national security by exporting garlic bulbs raised in sewage.

The claim was immediately met with laughs and jeers from Chinese social media users due to a lack of basic understanding of organic farming.

Experts said it is baseless and politically charged, and motivated by anything but concerns for US public health. Instead, they view the episode as a symbol of surging trade protectionism in the world's largest economy.