China defends record in fighting poaching

By Confidente Reporter
THE Chinese embassy in Na­mibia has used a meeting fo­cusing on poaching of local wildlife to defend its record when it comes to fighting poaching.
Chinese Ambassador-designate to Namibia Qiu Xuejun said al­though there are Chinese nations involved in criminal activities, not all Chinese are bad people and that such criminal tendencies are strongly opposed by the Chinese government; adding that China is willing to provide necessary sup­port needed in the anti-poaching drive.
At the meeting which was held recently in Windhoek, Environ­ment and Tourism deputy minister Tommy Nambahu met with Am­bassador Qiu to discuss the allega­tions of wildlife poaching against Chinese nationals currently in po­lice custody.
Nambahu convened the meet­ing after the embassy wrote a letter of complaint to the Ministry over the concerns expressed by Na­mibian Chamber of Environment regarding cases of wildlife crimes that include poaching and smug­gling of wildlife products involving Chinese nationals.
“These are not Government sanctioned views; they are views of individuals that should only be attributed to them and not to the Government. The content of the letter is inflammatory and does not augur well with our historic rela­tionship,” Nambahu said.
In his letter, according to the ministry’s public relations officer Romeo Muyunda, the Ambassa­dor expressed his dissatisfaction on the views passed by the Namibian Chamber of Environment which he says contained speculations and unreasonable accusations against Chinese nationals and the Em­bassy.
“During the meeting, the Depu­ty Minister underscored the cordial relations that Namibia and China enjoy with strong roots stemming from the years of the liberation struggle and that the Namibian Government remained committed at strengthening the existing bilat­eral cooperation between the two countries.
“The Deputy Minister described the sentiments expressed in the open letter by Namibian Chamber of Environment as unfortunate with potential to negatively impact on the good relations between the two nations.
Muyunda said the meeting be­tween the two parties reiterated the need for a cordial relationship. With regard to poaching of wild­life in the country, Nambahu said that the Government would not think that such illegal actions are condoned at government levels but criminal actions carried out by individuals. On his part, Am­bassador-designate Qiu expressed gratitude to the Deputy Minister for making time to highlight gov­ernment’s position on the matter.
“The Chinese government has reiterated its commitment to en­sure that its nationals living in Namibia are law abiding residents contributing to nation building”.
The Chinese Embassy also reit­erated its willingness to cooperate with the Government by providing necessary support needed in the anti-poaching drive

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