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| Pangolin |
The government of China had reportedly launched a high profile crackdown on the illegal trade of pangolin parts in response to combating the covid pandemic. Pangolins are known for being carriers of coronaviruses and some people believe that they play a go-between role in hosting the Sars-CoV-2 virus which leads to the Covid-19 disease. Therefore, in February, the country placed a permanent ban on the consumption of pangolins and other wildlife. In June, it banned the usage of pangolin scales in traditional Chinese medicine and bolstered protections for its native pangolin populations. However, a recent report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) revealed that the government continues to support the sale of pangolin parts. The agency discovered that 221 companies are licensed to sell pangolin scales. Among them is the international pharmaceutical company Tong Ren Tang, whose shareholders include major western financial institutions. The report, titled Smoke & Mirrors, also showed that pangolin scale-products made in China are available for purchase on eBay, Alibaba's Taobao, and other e-commerce platforms. The EIA had earlier found out that even though pangolin scales were removed from the raw ingredients list of the 2020 edition of Pharmacopoeia, they were still listed within some 80 authorized traditional medicines. The report ended by forcing the Chinese government to "unambiguously prohibit commercial use of wildlife" and to "remove pangolins and other globally threatened species entirely from the pharmacopoeia and other nationally approved medicine lists."
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| Sign board of Tong Ren Tang in Beijing |
In my opinion, this news has revealed the ugly truth behind China's stance on the illegal wildlife trade during the covid pandemic. Even though the country banned the consumption of pangolin and other wildlife products, it was secretly supporting the sale of such illicit products much to the chagrin of individuals and organizations involved in global wildlife protection. It is absolutely outrageous to see how the Chinese government pledges to fight against the illegal wildlife trade and at the same time support the sale of wildlife products. I strongly urge the Chinese government to take strong measurements to effectively ban the sale and consumption pangolins and it should be done without any secretive political backing of the illicit trade. This means all those companies licensed to sell pangolin products should have their licenses revoked and shut down if necessary. In addition, major e-commerce platforms like eBay should establish a strict policy against selling of pangolin and other wildlife products.
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