There are no acceptable excuses, anymore. The governments of all countires should be held responsible for the demise of their native species. If China, had wanted to create a safe haven for the Baijii they would have done it. They have no use for animals other than to serve them up as food. If China wanted to create a safe haven for the Sun Bear, the Finless Porpoise, the Snub Nosed mokey…it would already be doing it.

But, the Chinese Govt. allows Bear Bile farms and it also allowed a 2,000 species to be driven to extinction. Nothing runs an animal species into the ground faster than money and greed.

My tone is partly a response to the way people usually go out of their way to avoid ruffling Chinese feathers. The Chinese expect weakness, but they don’t respect weakness, you can see it when the Chinese you are negotiating with deliberately raise their nose so that they are looking down at you after they are finished stating their position. Free advice for your future China business students.

Okay. No problem.

But words and tone matter. And if that “really” is your “point” then just come out and say that, and keep a lid on the bitter tone and anger. Nobody likes to be around that, even in cyberspace. And it’s not terribly constructive or productive. I will call you out on that; every time.

And what kills fish? Acidic, low oxygen waters. The baiji might be able to survive the river water better, but not forever. The baiji population was actually doing well until a fear years ago, when the population began to drop off significantly. Perhaps a tipping point in the Yangtze’s chemistry and therefore ecosystem was reached.

Chris, basically the point of my postings here is to not let business students be convinced that things in China are just “different” and that business is not an end all be all.

China is poisoning itself. What can I do about it? Just keep posting on the internet that the fault is not to be placed on technology restrictions and other such “anti-China” policies but that China has all of the tools it needs, it just has little will to use those tools. The top job at CEPA is actually an undersecretary type of job in the Chinese gov’t. The environment just isn’t that important over there.

Protecting endangered species is not simply about reducing and monitoring pollution, but evaluating the entire process of how business is done and adjusting it accordingly. The point of my post was to consider whether China’s businesses and people in general see this protection of endangered species as worthwhile, or will instead choose not to go through the trouble of evaluating their business models for the benefit of these animals. What is your take on this?

A valid point.

And as a person living there with purported expertise in that field you are doing _____________ ?? [fill in the blank] to help make a difference and change this landscape (versus sit on the sidelines and shoot the proverbial slingshot at others).

As you can tell, I don’t have much patience for persistent critics; I am more interested in working with folks who roll up their sleeves, take responsibility, and get it done to change things for the better.

Leave it to the business class to seperate the two issues. These aquatic animals are endangered because the water they live in is also the primary source of drinking water for hundreds of millions of Chinese (when you factor the entire length of the Yangtze and its tributaries). If the water is not clean enough for animals, it is even worse for humans (technology has made us kinda soft).

If China had a proper wastewater treatment system in place along the river from Sichuan to Chongming island, the water would be at least clean enough for these animals to exist.
But a tight wallet, corruption, laziness and finger pointing keep that from happening.