The past few years have seen a number of Chinese citizens implicated in elephant rhino, donkey, lion and pangolin poaching activities, as well as the subsequent smuggling of their products. Such wildlife crimes gravely undermined the image of China and the Chinese people. To this end, the Chinese government has vouched to fully punish all wrongdoings, following the ‘zero tolerance’ policy on any crimes against wildlife.

Lin Songtian, the Ambassador of China to South Africa, when delivering the keynote address, at the Africa-China Wildlife Conservation Conference hosted by Wits University on Thursday, underscored China’s firm commitment to wildlife protection in Africa.

“There has been too much talk of the Chinese being involved in wildlife poaching, and smuggling of their products. If you hear of any such cases let us know. We will find these people. Even if they hide here in Africa or in China, we will find them and punish them,” said Lin.

In reiterating China’s commitment to wildlife conservation, Lin said the Chinese government fully supports South Africa and other African countries’ efforts to strictly punish all wildlife crimes. He called upon judicial and law enforcement institutions of African countries to stop the practice of allowing criminals get off prison sentences by paying a small fine. Rather, he motivated for the joint introduction of the toughest measures to punish and deter criminal activities.

This comes at a time when Chinese people’s involvements in wildlife crimes in Africa seem to have waned, a time when efforts by Chinese groups and civil organizations to discourage wildlife crimes and sensitise both Africans and Chinese on wildlife conservation seem to be paying off. Efforts by the Chinese have been varied. For example in March this year, during the Chinese Spring Festival, the Chinese Embassy in South Africa hosted a celebratory event in Johannesburg which featured the wildlife conservation theme. During the two-day event, a successful charity sale and auction was held with strong support from the Chinese community and Chinese businesses in South Africa. Thousands actively participated, as a result the event raised ZAR200. 000, which was then donated to Kruger National Park to support their efforts in capacity building.

On the one hand, Chinese civil organisations like China House, founded by Huang Hongxiang based in Kenya, are also playing a crucial role in raising awareness and discouraging wildlife crimes.

“This very promising young man from Guangdong, who is still under 30, is already a known and respected figure across China and around the world. As a student of Fudan University in China and Columbia University in the United States, Huang had the choice of a well-paid job and comfortable life in the US. But he chose to come to Africa and committed himself to the cause of wildlife conservation,” applauded Lin.

Huang is among many other Chinese people who have committed themselves to wildlife conservation. Their passion and dedication is said to have inspired and will continue to inspire more Chinese people to conserve wildlife.

“We are very happy to see that with our concerted and unremitting efforts, we are hearing less cases of Chinese poaching elephants and rhinos, or smuggling their products. But as we move forward, it can’t be ruled out that there will still be a number of Chinese who will illegally poach and smuggle wild animals, plants, and their products,” said Lin, adding that it’s unfair for 1.3 billion Chinese citizens to have their reputations marred by the actions of a few Chinese.

In terms of legislation, the Chinese government has already implemented laws to protect rare biological species. In recent years, the Chinese government effected major projects on biodiversity protection, tightened administration and control over import and export of wildlife and plants. Hence the crack down on the illegal trade of ivory and other wildlife products.

“As we all know, ivory carving is an important intangible cultural heritage cherished in China. But to show the firm determination and resolve of the Chinese government on wildlife protection, we put a comprehensive ban on all ivory and ivory products trade on 31 December last year, including those that are legally sourced. This decision led to the shutting down of 34 ivory processing sites and 143 sales sites,” expounded Lin.

As a contracting party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the Chinese government has taken an active part in international cooperation, and has attached great importance to strengthening cooperation with African countries in order to combat all crimes against wildlife. From 2013 to 2015, China joined forces with South Africa, the United States, Interpol and other countries and organizations to carry out three anti-smuggling endangered species activities code-named “Operation COBRA”, effectively curbing criminal activities such as smuggling ivory. The efforts received high praises from the CITES Secretary General.

In 2015, during the FOCAC Johannesburg Summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the China-Africa Green Development Cooperation Plan, which includes 100 projects for wildlife conservation and ecological environment improvement in Africa. China has already signed cooperation agreement on wildlife protection with South Africa and Kenya.

“We have also provided container monitoring equipment and wildlife protection equipment to Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Botswana and other countries with important wildlife species,” said Lin Songtian.

Furthermore, China has actively carried out training programs to support African countries in improving law enforcement and capacity building on wildlife conservation. Earlier this year, China and the United Kingdom jointly conducted a training program in Johannesburg on wildlife protection law enforcement. Participants included wildlife conservationists, police, customs officials, and quarantine and inspection officials from Namibia, Mozambique, Zambia, South Africa, Tanzania, Angola, and Australia.

Moving forward, the Chinese government hopes to work closely with the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Interpol, and other international organizations and NGOs to explore joint law enforcement on wildlife protection in Africa, in order to end crimes against elephants and other endangered species.

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