CHINESE PRESIDENT’S DELEGATION TIED TO ILLEGAL IVORY PURCHASES DURING AFRICA VISIT In March 2013, President Xi Jinping of China arrived in the East African country of Tanzania on his first visit to the continent as leader of the world’s second-largest economy. He was joined by a large entourage of Chinese government officials and business leaders, officially there to promote a mutually beneficial relationship between the two countries. But according to a new report from the Environmental Investigation Agency, a nongovernmental organization based in London, members of the delegation used Mr. Xi’s visit as an opportunity to procure so much illegal ivory that local prices doubled to $700 per kilogram, or about $318 per pound. In fact, two weeks before Mr. Xi arrived, Chinese buyers went on a shopping spree for illegal ivory, purchasing thousands of pounds of poached tusks, which were “later sent to China in diplomatic bags on the presidential plane,” says the report, “Vanishing Point: Criminality, Corruption and the Devastation of Tanzania’s Elephants,” which was released on Thursday. Read more sinosphere.blogs.nytimes/2014/11/05/chinese-presidents-delegation-tied-to-illegal-ivory-purchases-during-africa-visit/?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3As%2C{%222%22%3A%22RI%3A18%22}&_r=1
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 09:08:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015