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Bears on Chinese farms face 'thrilling cruelty'
China yesterday reaffirmed its ban on barbaric cruelty for extracting bear bile, a valuable ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine.
The state Forestry Administration, along with four other government departments, issued a joint circular in December 2004 to outlaw the hunting of endangered wild bears and barbaric cruelty on bear farms, said Cao. The circular also banned illegal trading of bear bile, he added. In 1992, wild bears were included in the list of endangered species in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. "The Chinese government firmly adheres to the convention. Starting from 2003, China stopped exporting bear bile products, has not approved new bile extracting facilities and prohibited the hunting of wild bears." Over the past decade, China has set up nature reserves in major bear habitats and returned six artificially bred black bears back to the wildness in Changbai Mountains in the northeast. "Meanwhile, Chinese scientists are working hard to find herbal alternatives to bear bile," said Cao. A latest survey shows China's bear population is increasing year-on-year, he said without giving details. Bear bile, believed to cure fever, liver illnesses and sore eyes, has been harvested in China for more than 1,000 years and some impoverished farmers raise bears for their biles. Speaking at the same press conference, Liu Tuo, an official in charge of sand control with the forestry administration, said that China will intensify afforestation efforts in and around Beijing to create a better environment for the 2008 Olympic Games. "The Chinese government will continue to control sandstorms that are detrimental to the ecological environment in Beijing and Tianjin and is ready to spend more on key areas and major projects," Liu revealed. He said China is considering spending more on sand control in the northwestern region, a major source of sandstorms hitting Beijing and Tianjin. "It's the solemn commitment of the Chinese government to host a 'Green Olympics' in 2008," Liu said. "'Green' stands for good ecological environment, peace and stability. We're confident the government will live up to its commitment." The forestry administration launched an ambitious sand control project in 2001 to tackle sandstorms that had for long been plaguing Beijing's environment. A forestry report says that by the end of 2004, the project had covered at least 11 million hectares of land. The coverage of forests and grass had increased by an average 30 percent compared with 2000 and a network of forest shelters had been built in sand-prone areas in Hebei and Shanxi provinces and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, it says. The sand control project has improved the air quality in Beijing. The
monitoring network of Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau found a
significant drop in major pollutants in the city in 2004, and nearly 227 days of
the year had good weather, compared with 100 days in 1998.
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