Charity’s Bear Essentials The recent controversy over bear bile extraction took on a new dimension at the two sessions in the past two wee...

Charity’s Bear Essentials

The recent controversy over bear bile extraction took on a new dimension at the two sessions in the past two weeks as supporters framed the debate as a fight to save traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) from a "joint conspiracy" by Western medicine companies.

Over 30 members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), mostly from the medical and healthcare fields, jointly put forward a proposal to support bear bile extraction, citing it as an unavoidable choice to save human lives, according to media reports on Tuesday.

An even more eye-catching counter-attack stated that the public outcry over the IPO attempt of bear bile medicine producer Guizhentang had been engineered by the Asia Animal Foundation (AAF) to defend Western pharmaceutical firms' business interests and with support from Western governments.

Western conspiracy spat

AAF has been mired in a cloud of suspicion nationwide since the 21st Century Business Herald exposed that AAF was actually a guarantee company instead of a charity foundation, which may be supported by some European countries.

According to its official website, AAF, founded by British woman Jill Robinson in 1998, is devoted to the welfare of wild and urban animals in Asia. It is headquartered in Hong Kong and has around 270 staff worldwide.

However, only a company named Asia Animal Foundation Limited can be found on the Cyber Search Centre of the Integrated Companies Registry Information of Hong Kong, with the same board of directors and contact number as AAF.

The question poses itself. Is it legal for AAF to receive public donations when it is not registered as a charity organization but as a guarantee company.

Zhang Xiaohai, AAF's external affairs director, told the Global Times that AAF is a charity registered in Hong Kong.

"You must set up a legal entity before establishing a charity organization in Hong Kong, so the normal way is to register a company first and then apply to become a charity," Zhang said.

Deng Guosheng, director of the NGO Research Center at Tsinghua University, pointed out that there is no problem with AAF's charity status.

"It has been exempt from tax as a charity institution, which means that it is a nonprofit organization, so it is able to receive donations from the public," Deng told the Global Times Tuesday.

Concerning differences between AAF's Chinese and English-language financial reports, Deng also exonerated the charity.

"Countries may have different policies for their fiscal management, so many overseas charities, including some domestic nonprofit organizations, will have different account books to deal with donators from different countries," Deng added.

In addition, the annual AAF financial report shows that it received $2.15 million from Germany and Italy in 2010, accounting for about 28 percent of total donations for that year. Both of them are among the countries able to synthesize bear bile.

China only imports two kinds of chemically synthesized bear bile named Ursofalk and Taurolite respectively produced by Dr. Falk Pharma GmbH based in Germany and Bruschettini S.R.L. in Italy.

Falk was said to have been an AAF donor, which raised doubts as to whether AAF's bear bile campaign was entirely independent.

Klaus Schwartze, marketing manager for Dr. Falk, confirmed to the Global Times yesterday that the company had once donated a one-off amount of free Ursofalk capsules for the treatment of suffering bears in China in 2009.

"The medicine was valued at around a few hundred euros," he said.

He added that the company sold Ursofalk to the Chinese mainland through its partner CMS Shenzhen Kangzhe Pharmaceuticals.

But he refused to publicize the group's sales figures in China, saying his company was not listed on the stock market.

Animal rights groups are saying that the speculation around AAF is merely to distract from the real controversy.

"Recent attacks on AAF might be a PR gimmick trying to complicate matters and divert public attention," Sun Quanhui, an expert on animal behavior from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, told the Global Times yesterday.

Debate continues

Cao Hongxin, a CPPCC member who signed the proposal and a former president of the China Academy of Chinese Medicine Sciences, said in an interview with the Global Times that animal-based drugs, such as tiger bone, musk, rhinoceros horn and antelope horn, are normally used to treat serious or acute diseases in TCM.

"When there is a conflict between animal welfare and human health, what should we do? Save people or animals? I do believe human interests come first," he said.

CPPCC member Feng Jicai, a renowned writer, joined with several other CPPCC members in claiming that the cruel act of confining bears in a small iron cage and taking bile from them every day is totally unacceptable and harms the image of the country.

Activists and animal lovers are seeking the prompt introduction of legislation to curb persisting abuse in China, which currently has no animal protection law.

"I suggest passing related laws to protect animal welfare against abusing and killing," Feng said.

Sun said that one fact has emerged in all the recent debates, namely that the Chinese public is increasingly aware of the need to protect animals from abuse.