After the whole damn planet declared its disgust with China's lifting the ban on using tiger bones and rhino horn in medicine, the Chinese government has decided to back peddle on its declaration: using the exotic, endangered animals bits and pieces will remain off limits to the world of eastern medicine.
From The New York Times:
Making a rare concession, the State Council, China's cabinet, said that it had decided to postpone an order made last month to undo a 25-year ban on the trade.
"The Chinese government has not changed its stance on wildlife protection and will not ease the crackdown on illegal trafficking and trade of rhinos, tigers and their byproducts," Ding Xuedong, a top official with the council, said in remarks published in the state-run news media on Monday.
I'm having a hard time believing that anything to do with any government would be good news this year, but here we are.
It is worth noting, however, that the Chinese ban on slapping bones and horn into medicine isn't permanent. It could be rescinded at any point in the future. However, as The New York Times points out, China's working hard to sort out a greater share of respect on the world stage. Not murdering rare animals for their bits and pieces? That's an easy win.
Now if we could just get them to knock off the shit they're pulling with Muslims in their nation, we'll be getting somewhere.
Image by Soumyajit Nandy – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
