It is a familiar story in Southeast Asia. In truth, it has become a familiar story almost everywhere: China’s vast appetite for luxury items was the underlying cause of last week’s execution-style killing of two government conservation workers in Cambodia.
Sieng Darong, a 47-year-old forest ranger, and Sab Yoh, a 29-year-old police officer, were murdered as they slept on November 7, shot with AK-47-style heavy weapons. A third member of the team survived with injuries, and a fourth escaped. The killings happened shortly after the team confiscated chainsaws at an illegal logging site in northwestern Cambodia’s Preah Vihear Protected Forest. More at: strangebehaviors.wordpress.com
GR: You could argue that the Chinese are no more avaricious than the rest of us. If you look at the homes, and check the closets and freezers of wealthy U. S., Canadian, and European citizens you will probably find tropical hardwoods, animal furs, ivory, and unsustainable meat. The recent rapid growth of China has made the greed of its wealthy so conspicuous because they have arrived at the time when the rest of us have already harvested the Earth’s beautiful trinkets to near extinction. Still, we should not hesitate to apply hindsight and enact and enforce laws to protect what remains.
