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A Chinese lawmaker Thursday warned against a hazardous
"biological intrusion" of the country's eco-system resultant from
imprudent imports of foreign turfs, trees and fruits, and called
for prompt legislation to ward off any possible penetration of
"harmful foreign organisms from overseas".
"In 2003 alone, China suffered economic losses worth 57.6
billion yuan (about US$7 billion) because of the assault of 11
detrimental foreign organisms, including weeds and insects,” said
Zhang Zhongning, a deputy to the 10th National People's Congress
(NPC), China's top legislature currently in its 10-day annual full
session.
Calling the "biological intrusion" a negative side effect of the
globalization process, Zhang, a research fellow with the Institute
of Zoology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that some
local governments' enthusiasm and haste for "blindly importing
foreign turfs and trees" to face-lift their cities had increased
the risks for the country.
"In a number of better-developed coastal regions, the local
governments, in a bid to beautify their cities, have imported large
quantities of foreign landscaped trees and turfs without adequate
scientific study and strict quarantine control," said Zhang.
"Out of their ignorance, quite a few local officials even feel
excited at the sight of 'strange flowers and rare plants' from
around the world gathering in their cities," he added.
It is quite necessary to enact a law to halt the invasion of
harmful external organisms, which will not only grip the control
over the imports of foreign organisms, but stipulate on isolation
and control measures for areas already affected by the "biological
intrusion," said Zhang.
The scientist spoke against the increasing imports of overseas
fruits and transgenic food products. "Though we are unable to
witness the potential risks for the time being, the impact on the
future is unforeseen and unpredictable," said Zhang. "We shall
learn from governments in the Europe, which have been very cautious
about the imports of transgenic products."
"We should adopt a respectful and prudent approach to the
nature, to which we remain unknown to a great extent," Zhang
said.
(Xinhua News Agency March 11, 2004)
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