No More Shark Fin Soup for NBA Star Yao Ming and 2 Other Chinese Stars: The Three Buck Their Native Cruel China

What a great move. No surprise that cruel “China is the world's biggest consumer and importer of sharks fin, with fishermen the world over catching shark for its prized fins and throwing the living remains back into the ocean to die a slow death.”

I’m very happy that these three people stood up and used their leverage to shed light on the despicable practice that brings about Shark fin soup. Again, I repeat, they actually catch the sharks, cut off the fins and throw them back in the ocean to die. Totally consistent with the cruelty inherent in China.

Showing his level of consciousness, Yao Ming states:

"When I think of the string of events that lead to a bowl of sharks fin soup - such as the cruelty towards sharks, the struggling finless sharks (being) wiped out from our planet due to human greed - I don't know how to face myself," said Li, three time gold medalist at the 1984 Olympics. "I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to the Chinese public to stop eating sharks fin and to protect sharks."

For more on Shark fin soup and to sign a pledge against it, visit http://www.wildaid.org/index.asp?CID=8&PID=66&
SUBID=&TERID=262

Article:


Yao Ming vows no more sharks fin soup

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060802/
en_afp/basketchnenvironment_060802172155

Wed Aug 2, 1:21 PM ET

BEIJING (AFP) - China's towering basketball star Yao Ming pledged to never eat the Chinese delicacy sharks fin soup as part of a high profile campaign to save the endangered fish from extinction.

"I pledge to stop eating sharks fin soup and will not do so under all circumstances," Yao told a press conference.

"For the sake of our future, please join us in protecting endangered wildlife."

Yao, together with Olympic gold medal winning gymnast and sportswear tycoon Li Ning, and Chinese pop singer Liu Huan, all joined the campaign organized by environmental group WildAid.

China is the world's biggest consumer and importer of sharks fin, with fishermen the world over catching shark for its prized fins and throwing the living remains back into the ocean to die a slow death, Steve Trent, WildAid president, said.

"When I think of the string of events that lead to a bowl of sharks fin soup - such as the cruelty towards sharks, the struggling finless sharks (being) wiped out from our planet due to human greed - I don't know how to face myself," said Li, three time gold medalist at the 1984 Olympics.

"I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to the Chinese public to stop eating sharks fin and to protect sharks."

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates some 100 million sharks are caught each year and over 10,000 tonnes of shark fins are traded annually, resulting in 110 species of sharks being endangered, Trent said.

Unfortunately the decimation of shark populations is only a reflection of one species being threatened by human pressures the world over, he added.

"From the mighty tiger and shark to the smallest insect ... the level at which we are consuming wildlife species is not sustainable," Trent said.