ANTI FUR CAMPAIGN IN CHINA

May 2, 2006

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*Nepal : China wants Tibetan broadcasters to wear fur*

May 1, 2006

Chinese authorities have asked Tibetan broadcasters in Amdo Tibetan region

of northwest China, to add fur lining to 'chupas', their traditional

clothing.

Head of Qinghai provincial Propaganda Department, Che Xizhen and head of

provincial Communist Party's ideology-focused United Front Work Department,

Rancher Gyal visited Qinghai television station recently.

They announced Tibetan-language broadcasters to wear fur-lined traditional

Tibetan clothing, a source close to the station said.

To provide broadcasters with monetary assistance to buy this clothing,

officials will be allocating a budget of yuan 10,000 (US $1,250) for furs.

Staff wore dresses which were old and not colorful. To improve Government

television station's image, assistance was offered to buy fur-lined

clothing, said Bai Jubi, Chief, Qinghai television station.

Instruction given to broadcasters was meant to arouse an anti-fur movement

inspired by Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, Dalai Lama.

Anti-fur campaign is thought to have begun in Rebkong county, Malho

prefecture, in remote northwestern province of Qinghai.

Dalai Lama's call to Tibetans to protect endangered species in January, made

people burn tiger, leopard, and sea otter skins publicly against Chinese

authorities wish in early February.

Animal rights groups in other countries objected to China's expanding fur

trade, which includes use of domestic cat fur in accessories and ornaments.

The US-based People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), could be given

unwanted furs, which it would donate to freezing and homeless, or for

educational purposes, said Roben Euler, member, International Anti-Fur

Coalition, Baltimore.

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