【美国之音 20141107】坦桑尼亚否认中国官员走私象牙

独秀文译青年

【原文标题】Tanzania Denies Chinese Officials Smuggled Ivory

【中文标题】坦桑尼亚否认中国官员走私象牙

【原文作者】Megan Duzor

【原文链接】http://www.voanews.com/content/tanzania-denies-chinese-officials-smuggled-ivory/2512491.html

Confiscated ivory is displayed at a chemical waste treatment center in Hongkong, May 15,2014.

2014年5月15日，香港化学废物处理中心陈列了一批被缴获的象牙制品。

【正文】

Tanzania's government is denying allegations in a new report that officials traveling with China's president last year illegally purchased thousands of kilograms of ivory in the East African nation.

坦桑尼亚政府否认了一份声称去年中国主席随同官员在出访坦桑尼亚时非法购买数千公斤象牙的指控。

China has also denied the allegations, made this week by a British nongovernmental group, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).

中国政府同样也否认了这一份来自英国非政府环保组织“环境调查署”（EIA）本周发起的指控。

Tanzanian government spokesman Assah Mwambene told VOA's Swahili Service on Friday that the EIA had a sinister motive in releasing the report.

周五，坦桑尼亚政府发言人阿萨·姆瓦贝内（Assah Mwambene）告诉美国之音斯瓦西里部门，环境调查署发布的报告动机不善。

"I  believe [EIA] has a secret agenda regarding the relations between Tanzania and China," Mwambene said. "Three-quarters of those involved in this illegal trade are not Chinese as purported in the report."

姆瓦贝内说：“我认为环境调查署想从坦桑尼亚和中国的关系中作点手脚。在涉嫌走私的人当中，四分之三的人都不是报告里声称的中国人。”

He also questioned the timing of the report, saying that relations between Tanzania and China were good and noting that the presidents of the two nations had recently visited each other's country.

同时他对报告披露的时间也存在质疑。他称，坦桑尼亚和中国的关系融洽，两国总统不久前还曾互访对方国家。

"Why is this report being released now, when we have just had what we call a reciprocal visit after Chinese president’s last visit to Tanzania and the recent visit by Tanzania’s president to China?" Mwambene said.

他质疑道：“中国主席访问坦桑尼亚之后，最近坦桑尼亚总统又访问了中国，但为什么这份报告偏要发布在双方互访完成之时？”

In Beijing on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said that the charges were "groundless" and that his government strongly objected to the report.

周四，中国外交部发言人洪磊发言称，这份指控是“没有根据的”，中国政府表示强烈反对。

The EIA said Thursday that members of Chinese President Xi Jinping's official party illegally purchased a large quantity of elephant tusks during a visit to Tanzania in March 2013.  It said the officials smuggled the ivory out of the East African nation aboard the presidential airliner.

环境调查署周四称，中国主席习近平代表团在2013年5月对坦桑尼亚访问期间走私大量象牙，并通过主席专机运出该国。

The environmental group's account quoted ivory smugglers in Dar es Salaam who said the volume of Chinese purchases doubled the price of ivory on the local black market.

这份报告指出，象牙走私者在达累斯萨拉姆（坦桑尼亚首都）非法购买象牙的数量巨大导致当地黑市象牙价格翻倍。

China is the world's largest market for smuggled ivory. The material is seen as a status symbol and used both for decorative objects and in traditional Chinese medicine.

中国是世界上走私象牙需求量最大的国家。象牙可以象征一个人的社会地位，同时也可以用来装饰或者入药。

Environmental activists say the demand for illegal ivory from Asia has encouraged widespread poaching in Africa, devastating Tanzania's elephant population.

环保人士称，亚洲国家对非法象牙的需求助长了非洲不法人士偷猎大象的行为，导致了坦桑尼亚大象的大量减少。

International ivory sales were banned in the 1980s in an effort to protect elephants. Tens of thousands of elephants are killed by poachers each year for their tusks.

为了保护大象的生存，20世纪80年代开始国际上就严令禁止象牙交易。但偷猎者为了获取象牙，仍不惜每年杀死成千上万头大象。

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