ViceZilla’s Views

In just over a year, the world”s eyes will be on China as it hosts the 29th summer Olympic Games. China has overcome some huge obstacles, and has many more before they can meet their promise of a “Green Olympics.”

Air quality improvement measures, tree planting and landscaping projects, energy saving campaigns, and strict pollution laws have all been enacted to help Beijing look it”s best for the world in 2008. However, there are still a few things that remain unchecked, and that is Shark Finning and “Wild Animal Feasting.”

Two renowned Chinese biologists have called on the government to ban the consumption of endangered wild animals by government officials. Xu Zhihong, the president of Peking University, and Pan Wenshi, a professor at the university, recommended that the government enact laws to prohibit officials from eating rare or endangered wildlife items such as shark fin, abalone, giant salamander, and spotted deer, and that it evaluate all government representatives on their eating behavior.

It is widely known that the Chinese have a voracious appetite for the consumption of wild animals. No endangered animal seems to be safe from the dinner tables and menus in China. Eating wild animals, or as the locals call it, tasting “wild flavor”, is considered a high-end luxury in China. A single meal can cost several hundred, or up to a thousand dollars, so it”s not exactly affordable for the average consumer. But it seems that government officials often indulge at the expense of wealthy businessmen looking for a favor, or at the taxpayers” expense. Payments for official meals represent a huge share of total public spending in China, more than US$12.5 billion annually.

In January 2006, officials with the Ministry of Agriculture called for a change in lifestyle and eating patterns to spare more shark fins from restaurant tables. But this has raised little awareness among officials and the public. The Chinese biologists believe the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing may serve as another opportunity to raise alarm about wild animal gluttony.

Surely with the government going to great lengths to put out a good image to the world for the Olympics, they can see the logic of forever banning the meat of endangered animals from the dinner tables of the wealthy Chinese businessmen and government officials.

Tags: The China Effect //