A new weapon in the fight against the illegal trade in threatened species was to be unveiled by conservation groups yesterday at a meeting of the world's biggest convention on protecting biodiversity.
The device allows officials to test suspicious goods on the spot to determine whether they have been prepared using ingredients from rare species.
The test -- which works in a similar way to a pregnancy test -- was developed with British DNA forensics specialists to combat the use of tissues from protected animals, especially bears, in traditional medicines, which make up a lucrative market in Asia. The procedure reveals whether goods contain ingredients from species protected under international trade laws by detecting specific proteins found in the animals.
Trials of the test kit in Australia and Canada have identified 16 cases where illegal products were bound for the market. It was to be officially launched at the UN Conference on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) yesterday.
All eight species of bear are protected under international law. Some, such as the Asiatic black bear and brown bear found in China and elsewhere, are illegal to export or import under any circumstances, while others can only be sold across borders under tight restrictions.
But conservation groups claim the high market value of bear products -- including bile, which is used in a range of traditional medicines -- drives a substantial illegal market for the products.
Estimates from the World Society for the Protection of Animals suggest that 12,000 bears are raised in farms in China, South Korea and Vietnam. Although the bear farms can legally supply local firms, they are suspected of selling illegally to other countries.
Consumption of bear bile has risen in China since the farms were introduced in the early 1980s, from about 50kg annually to 4,000kg in 1998.
Bears kept in captivity are wounded in the abdomen and fitted with a tube to extract bile from their gall bladders.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
RSS