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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