ASIA / PACIFIC
September 19, 2016
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 3
Giant panda is no longer “endangered,” experts say
CUTE CUB. A panda cub born at the Chengdu Re-
search Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu, the
capital of southwest China’s Sichuan province, is seen
on June 23, 2015. A leading international group has
taken the giant panda off its endangered list thanks to
decades of conservation efforts, but China’s govern-
ment discounted the move, saying it did not view the
status of the country’s beloved symbol as any less se-
rious. (Xue Yubin/Xinhua via AP, File)
Continued from page one
of the bamboo-gobbling, black-and-white
bear that has long been a symbol of
China and the global conservation move-
ment.
The panda population reached an
estimated low of less than 1,000 in the
1980s due to poaching and deforestation
until Beijing threw its full weight behind
preserving the animal, which has been
sent to zoos around the world as a gesture
of Chinese diplomatic goodwill.
The Chinese government and the World
Wildlife Fund (WWF) first established the
Wolong National Nature Reserve in
Sichuan province in 1980. Wild panda
numbers have slowly rebounded as China
cracked down on the skin trade and
gradually expanded its protected forest
areas to now cover 5,400 square miles.
International groups and the Chinese
government have worked to save wild
pandas and breed them at enormous cost,
attracting criticism that the money could
be better spent saving other animals
facing extinction. The IUCN drew
attention to the 70 percent decline in the
eastern gorilla population over the past 20
years.
But the WWF, whose logo has been a
panda since 1961, celebrated the panda’s
re-classification, saying it proved that
aggressive investment does pay off “when
science, political will, and engagement of
local communities come together.”
AP researcher Henry Hou contributed to this report.
Japan official blasted for piggyback ride after deadly storm
REGRETTABLE RIDE. Shunsuke Mutai, Japan’s vice minister of
reconstruction, visits Iwaizumi, a northern Japanese town devastated by a
deadly storm, in this September 1, 2016 file photo. Vice minister Mutai is
under fire for crossing a puddle piggybacked by his underling during his
recent visit to the town. Mutai had headed a government team’s visit to
the town to assess damage from the storm, which killed more than
20 people in the region. (Jun Hirata/Kyodo News via AP)
By Mari Yamaguchi
The Associated Press
OKYO — A Japanese government official is under
fire for riding on a colleague’s back to get through a
big puddle of water during his recent visit to a
town devastated by a deadly storm.
Vice minister of reconstruction Shunsuke Mutai
headed a government team’s visit to the northern town of
Iwaizumi in early September to assess damage from the
storm, which killed more than 20 people in the region.
Mutai, who had forgotten to bring rubber boots, was
shown in television footage on the back of another
government official wading through the puddle. The scene
triggered sharp criticism on social media, with Mutai
accused of not taking his job seriously.
The case resurfaced when his boss, reconstruction
minister Masahiro Imamura, apologized for the
incident.
T
“When I heard the story, I said ‘what on earth was he
doing?’” Imamura said as he apologized to local residents.
He said Mutai rushed to the disaster area and forgot his
boots.
Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga criticized Mutai
for lacking sensitivity.
“He went there as head of the government investigation
team, so naturally he should have brought his rubber
boots to begin with,” Suga said. “I must say he lacked
sensitivity to the residents hit by the disaster and the
region, and we should make sure not to repeat the same
problem.”
Some people said on social media that the scene was
“embarrassing,” while others wondered whether Mutai
was wearing expensive shoes, or if he simply did not want
to get wet.
Seven Chinese arrested in raid at drug laboratory in the Philippines
MANILA, The Philippines (AP) —
Seven Chinese citizens have been
arrested in a raid on a clandestine
methamphetamine laboratory inside
a pig farm north of Manila, the
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency
has reported.
The agency said nearly one pound
of methamphetamine with a street
value of around 2.5 million pesos
($5,400), about 44 pounds of the drug
ingredient ephedrine, laboratory
equipment, and various chemicals
were confiscated in the raid in
Pampanga province. Six men and one
woman face charges of illegal drug
possession and manufacturing.
The drug lab in the basement of a
stockroom was able to produce up to
110 pounds of methamphetamine per
week and may have been built in the
hog farm to mask the foul smell of
drug production, officials said.
President Rodrigo Duterte, who
has launched a massive crackdown
on illegal drugs, said Chinese citizens
are involved in the drug trade in the
Philippines and that drugs have been
smuggled from China to the
Philippines.
More than 2,800 suspected drug
dealers and users have been killed
and nearly 700,000 others have
surrendered out of fear of being killed
since Duterte took office on June 30,
according to police.
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