Conservation in China

Lone sharks

Persuading the Chinese to give up shark’s fin soup

Oct 1st 2011 | from the print edition

IS THE tide turning against shark’s fin soup? Conservationists certainly hope so. On September 22nd in Shanghai WildAid, a charity, launched a campaign to persuade Chinese people to give up eating the delicacy. Celebrity support for the bid was provided by Yao Ming, a Chinese basketball star, and Sir Richard Branson, a British business star. In California, meanwhile, a ban on the sale, trade and possession of sharks’ fins has been passed by the state senate, and awaits only the governor’s signature to become law.

The booming Chinese appetite for shark’s fin soup is known to be the driving force behind the depletion of shark species worldwide. Matt Rand, director of Global Shark Conservation at the Pew Environment Group, says that more than 30% of shark species are at risk of extinction. Marine ecosystems depend on the presence of high-level predators to keep other species in check, he says. Yet many Chinese accuse the campaigners of double standards. Why should shark’s fin, an important part of certain Chinese feasts, be banned, they ask? Why not ban bluefin tuna, which is also critically endangered, but more widely eaten by Westerners?

Lacking any inherent flavour, shark’s fin is treasured in China for its strandy, gelatinous “mouth feel”, its centuries-old status as a prized dish and its astronomical price. Serving it honours both host and guest. Most Westerners, unschooled in its pleasures, consider it a pointless delicacy. Juliet Eilperin, an American author, sums up the general Western viewpoint in “Demon Fish”, a book about sharks. A frond of fin, she says, is “a translucent, tasteless bit of noodle” and shark’s fin soup “one of the greatest scams of all time”. Eating it, Ms Eilperin suggests, is even more reprehensible than eating other morally objectionable foods such as delicious foie gras, because there is “no gastronomic pay-off”.

Celebrity endorsements and well-meaning Californians aside, the question now is whether wealthy Chinese in Asia can be persuaded to stop eating shark’s fin. Sceptics abound. Being lectured by Westerners on cultural or moral issues gets right up the noses of most Chinese. But if disapproval of the consumption of shark’s fin encourages the Chinese to see it as luo hou(backward), one of the most dreaded of all Chinese epithets, they might want to renounce the stuff anyway.

This has already happened with spitting in the streets, which many Chinese now regard as a backward habit. Eating dogs, too, is increasingly viewed as barbaric (a 600-year old dog-eating festival in eastern China was cancelled in September after public uproar). If the new Chinese elite can be persuaded that deliberately eating endangered species ill befits their aspirations to cosmopolitanism, there might be some hope for the sharks. Other threatened creatures that find their way, legally and illegally, into Chinese cooking pots could also be spared.

Already, farms are springing up outside Chinese cities to cater to more sophisticated Chinese consumers seeking out “green foods” such as free-range meat and poultry, or organically grown vegetables. Ethical and environmental concerns will surely follow. There are precedents for the disappearance of classic Chinese dishes on conservation grounds. Bear’s paw, for example, is no longer eaten openly. Instead, you may be offered imitation bear’s paw made from mutton pushed into a paw-shaped mould. Imitation shark’s fin is already available should anybody want it. And when the social cachet of a fabulously expensive delicacy is required, these days a bottle of Château Lafite might do.

from the print edition | Asia

Lone sharks

Sep 30th 2011, 02:52

It’s indeed time for China to encouarge Chinese who would like to promote living standard. Through some activities like this can let China be eco-friendly. For at least 20 years Chinese Communist Party has been striving for protecting environment and reforming old-fashioned custom. Among CCP’s fifth generation in this issue, Li Yuan-Tsao is the most efficient leader, who is well-known for his policy “Green Nanjing” in the tenure of 2000-2002 Nanjing’s party chief. His plan is impressed on the start of eco-friendly measure in the present China. The permanent development is also a big issue for CCP’s fifth generation to practise.

The shark’s fin has been a traditional symbol of high rank in China for a long time. But there are many substitutions or alternative way to show one’s luxury. Just like Sir Richard Branson, a British business star as well as you Economist.com’s important reader and an advertisement, demonstrates his luxury by unique dressings and locution. Optimistic, the green activites can strengthen one country’s power and sometimes stimulate advanced economy by creating a new territory of economic circle including green industry and green product.

Of course my ID is named after this issue concerned, although I am not conservative.

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這篇原文是透過對於魚翅的「管制」，評論員特闢篇幅報導現今中國的環保政策，已開始被列為國家級戰略發展重點。筆者在此補充，位於中國共產黨第五代，但是即將在今年(2018)年退休的李源潮國家副主席的在擔任南京市委書記時的綠能環保政策，是這波重點政策套裝的雛形。這些整風的措施後來演變成一石二烏之計，就中共以習近平為核心的領導而言，一來可以透過對民眾生活品質的改善達成民意鞏固，樹立威信; 二來可以控管長期以來在黨組織內部的貪污腐敗，而後有打老虎拍蒼蠅之舉。在這先簡單說起李源潮先生，之後筆者也有略提一些。他和李克強總理同為厲萬之教授的經濟學研究所學生的高徒，同門師兄弟。而且在2007年時，當李源潮仍任職中央組織部部長，當2007年的秋季中全會時，主動起身發言認為資歷完備而力挺李克強擔任總理。

當然這魚翅的問題也包括了中國傳統的移俗啦，筆者ID從在2005年8月就讀長庚大學醫學系以來，是用這個鯊魚煙的號碼在網路世界註冊。提倡保育動物一下～

「Through some activities like this can let China be eco-friendly.」這句Through要去掉，activities有中式英語之嫌，雖然去掉Through後合文法，或是以換句話說：The similar measures like this can make China eco-friendly [more]. 用措施會比較符合前後語意。