Chinese embassy denies knowledge of deal to import monkeys from Lanka

The Chinese embassy in Sri Lanka has tweeted a statement denying knowledge of any deal to import monkeys from Sri Lanka, dubbing the news about it as “disinformation” even though the deal was made public by the Sri Lankan Minister of Agriculture, Mahinda Amaraweera.

Here is the full statement of the embassy:

The Embassy has noticed recent disinformation on local and foreign media about Sri Lanka to export “100 thousand” of “endangered” toque macaque monkeys to a Chinese private company for “experimental purpose”, as well as detailed clarifications by the Minister of Agriculture and the Cabinet Spokesperson of Sri Lanka thereafter.

The Embassy has also checked with relevant authorities in Beijing. The Chinese National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the main government department supervising and managing the import and export of wild animals and plants, clearly clarified that it is not aware of the request and has not received such an application from any side.

The Embassy would like to further stress that as a contracting party of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), China has already adopted its Wildlife Protection Law in 1988 with several amendments afterwards.

The Chinese government always attaches great importance to wildlife protection and actively fulfils international obligations, which makes China one of the top countries in the world in terms of wildlife protection legislation and law enforcement.