Chinese Students Protest Against Scientific Whaling

Chinese Students Protest Against "Scientific" Whaling (Beijing, China - 19 April 2002) - In a response to international movie star Pierce Brosnan's recent personal message calling for worldwide support of the campaign to save the great whales led by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW - www.ifaw.org), over 1,500 students from eight top Chinese universities in Beijing voluntarily signed their names on three banners expressing the message of "Opposing 'Scientific' Whaling and Protecting Global Whales" this week. Facilitated by IFAW and organized by volunteers from the local environment organization "The Green Forum" and participating universities, the anti-whaling banner petition signing activity lasted from 15 to 17 April. Students from Beijing Polytechnic University, Beijing Second Foreign Language University, Beijing Broadcasting University, Beijing University, Qinghua University, People's University, Beijing Forestry University and Beijing Foreign Studies University actively participated in the event. The banners will be presented through IFAW's representative in Japan to the coming annual meeting of International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Shimonoseki as a collective voice against whaling from the Chinese youth. "I once saw on TV the brutal scene of whaling: the whale, shot by the spear gun, started to struggle in whirls of seawater that turned red around it caused by the bleeding of its body, and in the end died of pain and exhaustion. My heart saddened by the torture that this beautiful animal had to endure," said Hu Jia, member of the Friends of Nature and volunteer organizer of the event. "To me, whales are equal lives with our human beings. We have no right to kill them for any reason. Those who want to kill them for commercial interest, especially under the guise of scientific research must be stopped," he added. "As a member of the 'Nature Lover' environment group of our school, I've attended several petition signing activities. But, this anti-whaling banner petition is most different and special," said Zhang Shuo, student from Beijing Polytechnic University. "Because this time, through joining IFAW's anti-whaling campaign, we can make a difference in the protection of a global species." IFAW China Acting Country Director Dr. Aster Zhang said, "As the largest country in Asia, China has a major role to play in the protection of global wildlife. We hope these banner petitions from Chinese students will make the Japanese government hear the voice and opinion of the Chinese people that whaling under the cover of scientific research is wrong and this policy should be changed." In October 2001, during Animal Action Week, a public education campaign organized by IFAW, over 140,000 Chinese students from 180 schools across the country signed petitions opposing Japan's "Scientific Whaling" and any other form of commercial whaling. The petitions have been delivered to IFAW to support its global campaign of saving the great whales. End ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/04/19/20020419BIT00900/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/04/19/20020419BIT00900/wkr0002.pdf