At 17:34 on June 15, 2019, we noticed that an account of social media Sina Weibo was certified as "Zeng Yan, the Expert from the Endangered Species Scientific Commission, PRC", published and shared a commentary article on her account at 16:34. In the article the original text of the last paragraph was "As for the announcement of some organization, none of their ulterior motives were for the protection of Chinese pangolins, none." (Screen captured below) The text of this article was forwarded and shared by a large number of Weibo accounts with more than one million followers in the short period since.

As a non-profit organization dedicated to the endangered species pangolins conservation, China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) believes that Ms. Zeng’s words are very misleading. What is even more unacceptable is that, according to what she said: "As for the announcement of some organization, none of their ulterior motives were for the protection of Chinese pangolins, none." This conclusion is very irresponsible and heinous. It is a serious disinformation, verbal injury and slander, which not only violates the minimum academic spirit and scientific ethics, but also are vicious attacks and abuse that express ulterior motives in the context of expressing different academic views. This has caused unnecessary mental damage to non-profit organizations, including CBCGDF staff. We strongly urge the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Endangered Species Scientific Commission to immediately investigate Ms. Zeng’s remarks and make the results public.

Although as of 19:12, Ms.Zeng has deleted her insulting words in her Weibo account commentary section, and changed it to "Please don't give up, give them a chance”, it was a further reference to the lady’s sinister intentions in posting the text.

In view of the remarks made by the lady Ms. Zeng, it is extremely inconsistent with her status as a staff of the Endangered Species Scientific Commission, this is not only not conductive to the protection of pangolins the endangered species, but also has seriously violated the reputation of the organizations dedicated to pangolins protection including CBCGDF, and has also caused unnecessary harm to the mental health of the staff of these institutions. While strongly condemning Ms. Zeng’s defamatory remarks, we demand that she immediately apologize to the organizations and their staff who are working hard for the wildlife protection including pangolins conservation.

China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) reserves the right to further pursue Ms. Zeng Yan's legal liability.

(Photo credit: CBCGDF)

By / Maggie