China tries to eliminate shark fin dishes – as long as you’re watching

A Chinese legislator is quietly working on getting shark fin soup and other “unusual” animal-based dishes off of restaurant menus – at least while the 2008 Olympics are in progress. And maybe they just need to keep them away from foreigners. That’s right, while Xu Zhihong says that the dishes are an environmental issue, he’s more concerned with the image that they give China while the media’s in town. In other words, the only way to keep shark and snake off the menu is to get the Olympics permanently hosted in China, and maybe make it a monthly event. Link.