[영어로 읽는 글로벌 뉴스] 중국의 국제 판다 무역
Every zoo in the world, which owns a panda, actually 'borrowed' it from the Chinese government for a handsome price. This is the only method to bring in pandas into another country because these animals' natural habitat is in China. A zoo can rent a panda for 10 years, if the institution is willing to pay £300,000 a year. If the panda were to die of human error, the zoo would have to pay the Chinese government the same price. Apart from borrowing these animals, feeding and taking care of these pandas are even more expensive due to rising bamboo costs. The Edinburgh Zoo had 3,000 clumps of bamboo planted instead of importing fresh shoots from France.
China has leveraged the panda trade cleverly to gain valuable resources from different countries. Historically, the panda trade all began during the cold war, when Mao gave pandas as diplomatic gifts. Since then, one can easily connect the dots from major trade deals to panda deals. To take an example, pandas were loaned to zoos in Canada and Australia for uranium, oil, and minerals. Four southeast Asian countries received pandas after signing free-trade agreements with China. The Edinburgh Zoo got its very panda pair through a deal, personally overseen by China's vice-premier, Li Kequiang. It was a contract worth £2.6 billion which promised China (from Britain) petrochemical and renewable energy technologies, Jaguar cars and bountiful supply of Scotland's salmon.
All this is possible because pandas are such fragile and rare creatures. Critics said, "only 90 cubs have been born outside China in 35 years." Despite efforts to increase the panda population, the future seems dark and dismal, most certainly pointing towards extinction. Foreign zoos and Chinese researchers have made some major advances in captive breeding, however, the problem is successfully reintroducing the bred pandas into the wild. Furthermore, preservation of panda's natural habitat hasn't been very successful as well. Chinese residents simply cannot share space for the sake of pandas due to poverty.
It all comes down to one question: Human first or animal first?
exotic 이국적인 / attraction (사람을 끄는) 명소(n) / unmistakably 틀림없이, 명백하게 / orca 범고래(n) / bamboo 대나무(n) / fascinating 신비로운 / borrow 빌리다(v) / handsome price 높은 가격 / habitat 서식지(n)
/ rent 빌리다, 대여하다(v) / institution 기관(n) / be willing to ~를 할 의사가 있다 / human error 사람으로 인한 부주의, 실수 / clump (촘촘히 붙어 자라는 나무 등의) 무리(n) / shoot 새순(줄기)(n) / leverage 지렛대로 움직이다, 영향력을 행사하다(v) / cleverly 영리하게, 교묘하게 / valuable 귀중한 / resources 자원(n) / cold war 냉전(n) / diplomatic 외교적인 / connect the dots 추리하다, 실마리를 해결하다 / uranium 우라늄(n) / mineral 광물(n) / free-trade agreement 자유무역협정 / oversee (작업, 활동이 제대로 이뤄지는지) 감독하다(v) / vice-premier 부총리(n) / petrochemical 석유화학의 / renewable technology 재생에너지 기술 / bountiful 많은, 풍부한 / salmon 연어(n) / fragile 부서지기 쉬운, 취약한 / rare 희귀한 / cub 새끼(n) / dismal 음울한, 암울한 / extinction 멸종(n) / captive breeding 포획 사육 / preservation 보존(n) / resident 거주민(n) / space 공간(n) / for the sake of ~을 위해서 / poverty 가난, 빈곤(n)
(원제: China's Global Panda Trade)
One of the most exotic attractions at the Zoo is unmistakably the panda. It has the appearance of a bear with unique white and black fur patterns, similar to an orca. This beautiful animal feeds on bamboo, which is why people find pandas fascinating creatures. Then where do these pandas come from?Every zoo in the world, which owns a panda, actually 'borrowed' it from the Chinese government for a handsome price. This is the only method to bring in pandas into another country because these animals' natural habitat is in China. A zoo can rent a panda for 10 years, if the institution is willing to pay £300,000 a year. If the panda were to die of human error, the zoo would have to pay the Chinese government the same price. Apart from borrowing these animals, feeding and taking care of these pandas are even more expensive due to rising bamboo costs. The Edinburgh Zoo had 3,000 clumps of bamboo planted instead of importing fresh shoots from France.
China has leveraged the panda trade cleverly to gain valuable resources from different countries. Historically, the panda trade all began during the cold war, when Mao gave pandas as diplomatic gifts. Since then, one can easily connect the dots from major trade deals to panda deals. To take an example, pandas were loaned to zoos in Canada and Australia for uranium, oil, and minerals. Four southeast Asian countries received pandas after signing free-trade agreements with China. The Edinburgh Zoo got its very panda pair through a deal, personally overseen by China's vice-premier, Li Kequiang. It was a contract worth £2.6 billion which promised China (from Britain) petrochemical and renewable energy technologies, Jaguar cars and bountiful supply of Scotland's salmon.
All this is possible because pandas are such fragile and rare creatures. Critics said, "only 90 cubs have been born outside China in 35 years." Despite efforts to increase the panda population, the future seems dark and dismal, most certainly pointing towards extinction. Foreign zoos and Chinese researchers have made some major advances in captive breeding, however, the problem is successfully reintroducing the bred pandas into the wild. Furthermore, preservation of panda's natural habitat hasn't been very successful as well. Chinese residents simply cannot share space for the sake of pandas due to poverty.
It all comes down to one question: Human first or animal first?
exotic 이국적인 / attraction (사람을 끄는) 명소(n) / unmistakably 틀림없이, 명백하게 / orca 범고래(n) / bamboo 대나무(n) / fascinating 신비로운 / borrow 빌리다(v) / handsome price 높은 가격 / habitat 서식지(n)
/ rent 빌리다, 대여하다(v) / institution 기관(n) / be willing to ~를 할 의사가 있다 / human error 사람으로 인한 부주의, 실수 / clump (촘촘히 붙어 자라는 나무 등의) 무리(n) / shoot 새순(줄기)(n) / leverage 지렛대로 움직이다, 영향력을 행사하다(v) / cleverly 영리하게, 교묘하게 / valuable 귀중한 / resources 자원(n) / cold war 냉전(n) / diplomatic 외교적인 / connect the dots 추리하다, 실마리를 해결하다 / uranium 우라늄(n) / mineral 광물(n) / free-trade agreement 자유무역협정 / oversee (작업, 활동이 제대로 이뤄지는지) 감독하다(v) / vice-premier 부총리(n) / petrochemical 석유화학의 / renewable technology 재생에너지 기술 / bountiful 많은, 풍부한 / salmon 연어(n) / fragile 부서지기 쉬운, 취약한 / rare 희귀한 / cub 새끼(n) / dismal 음울한, 암울한 / extinction 멸종(n) / captive breeding 포획 사육 / preservation 보존(n) / resident 거주민(n) / space 공간(n) / for the sake of ~을 위해서 / poverty 가난, 빈곤(n)