Op-Ed Contributors
Spring Festival through foreigners' eyes
(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-02-12 07:56
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End baiting wild tigers
(By Jorgen Lindgren Hansen, a media consultant for UNESCO, currently living in Paris)
China is bidding farewell to the Year of the Ox. But it should feel "bullish" as it ushers in the Year of the Tiger. Although China's economy regained the stability and luster of its pre-Beijing Olympics days, it is likely to reach a new high this year when it overtakes Japan as the second largest economy in the world.
Last year's G20 summits showed China had arrived on the world stage. The Copenhagen climate change conference saw China taking on the US and the European Union. Evident at these major events was China, the young tiger.
Revered for its agility, virility and grace, the tiger is held in high esteem by Chinese people. The tiger can be found in its abstract, mythical form as motif since the Zhou Dynasty (1045-256 BC) bronzes. And it continues to inspire Chinese imagination in art, literature and folk culture.
The wanton poaching of this beautiful creature reveals the ugly underbelly of human nature. A tiger hunts alone, relying on their speed, strength and intelligence. Its power induces fear and envy in humans. The superstitious belief that ingesting parts of the animal endows one with its qualities has created a huge demand for tiger parts. This is the main reason why tigers are shot in the wild and their numbers have fallen drastically.
The world operates on a simple but unfortunate axiom: People are motivated by fear to sabotage those who are perceived as threat. It is human nature to gossip about a neighbor who has a bigger house or a better car. It is also human nature that prompts many countries to blame China for all the ills in the world. Nature holds a lesson for humans: Tigers do not kill humans without provocation. There is, in fact, enough room for everyone to coexist in peace.
As China prepares to celebrate the Year of the Tiger, humans need to give the tiger a chance to survive in the animal kingdom.
