Ethiopia’s honorary consul to stop advocating ivory trade
Dennis Ng Wang-pun to stop advocating sale of commodity in line with Addis Ababa’s official policy, after earlier fuelling uproar
Ethiopia's top diplomat in Hong Kong has vowed to stop advocating ivory sales, after sparking controversy with his calls to the city's government in support of the trade.
Honorary consul Dennis Ng Wang-pun would align with the official policy of the government in Addis Ababa to oppose the trade, officials from the African country's Foreign Office in Beijing told the Sunday Morning Post.
The development came a week after the Post revealed that Ng - a former ivory dealer - had written many letters to Hong Kong officials urging them not to ban trade of the precious commodity and to rethink destruction of the city's illicit ivory stockpile.
In a memo sent to the government this month, Ng said: "There are many ways to handle the ivory stockpile. Destroying the confiscated stockpile or issuing a complete ban on the trade cannot solve the problem."
The comments generated controversy, given their apparent contradiction with the official stance of Ethiopia, one of the most vocal and aggressive opponents of ivory trading.
Our honorary consul … has no intention of advocating the … ivory trade
In March, Addis Ababa joined a list of 10 other governments worldwide - including Hong Kong - to destroy all or some of their illicit ivory stockpiles.