Considering Yao Ming’s fame in China as the “Basketball Confucius” (to Larry Bird’s “B.B.J.”), I have wondered just how the biggest celebrity in China might use his fame…well, he’s off to a good start. NYT reports this morning that Yao has teemed up with Li Ning and singer Li Huan to speak out against the widescale slaughter of sharks for their fins. Claiming to be “friends with the animals” Yao said he would never again consume the expensive and oddly popular dish.
NYT notes that the Chinese mainland press buried the story and I’m pessimistic that your average Chinese businessman out entertaining his clients is going to stop and ask himself WWYMD before ordering a dish guaranteed to boost his 面子.
Animal rights is a new concept in China. It’s still common to see night markets reminiscent of a zoo as interpreted by Jack the Ripper: deer sitting in stalls with their front legs broken to keep them from running off, live chickens hung by their feet, hundreds of turtles stacked in turgid buckets. The recent public outcry over the decision to allow foreign hunting groups to bid for the right to hunt China’s endangered species forced the government to