Yahoo – AFP,
Tom Hancock, 6 Nov 2014
 |
The
environmental group WWF estimated that around 25,000 African elephants
were
hunted for ivory in 2011 (AFP Photo/Tony Karumba)
|
Beijing
(AFP) - Chinese diplomatic and military staff went on buying sprees for illegal
ivory while on official visits to East Africa, sending prices soaring, an
environmental activist group said Thursday.
Tens of
thousands of elephants are estimated to be slaughtered in Africa each year to
feed rising Asian demand for ivory products, mostly from China, the continent's
biggest trading partner.
When
Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Tanzania in March 2013, members of his
government and business delegation bought so much ivory that local prices
doubled to $700 per kilogram, the UK-based Environmental Investigation Agency
(EIA) said in a report, citing ivory traders in the city of Dar es Salaam.
"When
the guest come, the whole delegation, that's then time when the business goes
up," the EIA quoted a vendor named Suleiman as saying.
The traders
alleged that the buyers took advantage of a lack of security checks for
diplomatic visitors to smuggle their purchases back to China on Xi's plane.
Similar
sales were made on a previous trip by China's former President Hu Jintao, the
report said, adding that Chinese embassy staff have been "major
buyers", since at least 2006.
 |
There could
be as few as 470,000 African elephants, according to the
environmental group
WWF (AFP Photo)
|
A Chinese
navy visit to Tanzania last year by vessels returning from anti-piracy patrols
in the Gulf of Aden "prompted a surge in business for Dar es Salaam-based
ivory traders", it said.
A Chinese
national named Yu Bo was arrested during the naval visit as he attempted to
enter the city's port in a lorry containing 81 elephant tusks -- hidden under
wooden carvings -- which he planned to deliver to two mid-ranking Chinese naval
officers, the EIA said.
Yu was
convicted by a local court in March and sentenced to 20 years in jail, it
added.
Key China
ally
Tanzania,
which has large reserves of natural gas, is a key ally of China in East Africa,
and its President Jakaya Kikwete reportedly signed deals with the Asian giant
worth $1.7 billion while on a visit to Beijing last month.
Tanzania
had about 142,000 elephants when Kikwete took office in 2005, the EIA said,
adding that by 2015 the population is likely to have plummeted to about 55,000
as a result of poaching.
Almost all
ivory sales were banned in 1989 by the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to which both China and
Tanzania are signatories.
Politicians
from Tanzania's ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party and well-connected
business people are also involved in the ivory trade, with most demand coming
from China, the EIA said.
The EIA
report did say that enforcement of the ban on ivory sales had slightly improved
last year, with smuggling syndicates growing "more cautious", after
Yu's conviction, as well as a high-profile raid.
Police
found 706 ivory tusks weighing over 1.8 tonnes at a house in Dar es Salaam last
November, along with three Chinese nationals who were detained at the scene
after trying to pay a $50,000 bribe, the EIA said.
 |
Seized ivory
tusks are displayed prior to their destruction by incineration in
Hong Kong on
May 15, 2014. (AFP Photo/Philippe Lopez)
|
Meng
Xianlin, a Chinese forestry administration official who oversees Beijing's
commitments under CITES told AFP that the claims made in the EIA's report were
"baloney".
"I
have not heard of such a matter," he said, adding: "Do not hype this
up."
China often
says that it pays "great attention", to the protection of endangered
wildlife, and in recent years has carried out several high-profile arrests of
smugglers caught in its territory, along with a televised incineration of
seized ivory.
Foreign
Ministry spokesman Hong Lei described the report as "groundless" at a
regular briefing in Beijing Thursday, adding that China was "strongly
dissatisfied" with it.
"We
attach importance to the protection of wild animals like elephants," he
said.
"Recently,
in light of the illegal actions of poaching and smuggling of elephant tusks,
the Chinese government enacted a series of laws and regulations."
The
environmental group WWF estimated that around 25,000 African elephants were
hunted for ivory in 2011, predicting that the toll would rise. There could be as
few as 470,000 left, according to the group.
Related Article:
No comments:
Post a Comment