By: Isuru Parakrama
Colombo (LNW): The Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka made a strong response over the media reports on the Sri Lankan government’s alleged attempts to sell toque macaque monkeys to China, stating that neither its government China’s official bodies responding to flora and fauna conservation is aware of such a move.
In a statement, the Chinese Embassy said that the Chinese National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the main government department supervising and managing the import and export of wild animals and plants, have clarified that they are not aware of any request to import toque macaque monkeys from Sri Lankan and has not received such application from any side.
Full statement:
The Embassy has noticed recent disinformation on local and foreign media about Sri Lanka to export “100 thousands” of “endangered” toque macaque monkeys to a Chinese private company for “experimental purpose”, as well as detailed clarifications by the Minister of Agriculture and the Cabinet Spokesperson of Sri Lanka thereafter.
The Embassy has also checked with relevant authorities in Beijing. The Chinese National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the main government department supervising and managing the import and export of wild animals and plants, clearly clarified that it is not aware of the request and has not received such application from any side. The Embassy would like to further stress that as a contracting party of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), China has already adopted its Wildlife Protection Law in 1988 with several amendments afterwards. The Chinese government always attaches great importance to wildlife protection and actively fulfill international obligations, which makes China one of top countries in the world in terms of wildlife protection legislation and law enforcement.
