The disciplinary authority in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has launched a probe into the case of a “pangolin dinner”, after a newly discovered social media post went viral online.

A controversial microblog post in 2015 about an official banquet has been dug up by netizens, sparking public outrage with regards to eating endangered animals and putting local officials in serious trouble.

Weibo user Al_cal, later identified to be the son of a clock tycoon in Hong Kong, posted on his Weibo account that he’d been hosted by local officials in Guangxi to a banquet that included a pangolin dish.

Al_cal’s microblog post on the pangolin banquet has sparked public outrage with regards to eating endangered animals. [Photo: Weibo]

“Thanks to the hospitality of Director Li and Secretary Huang for inviting me to their office and cooking pangolin meat for us,” wrote Li Jiahe in July 2015, when he was on a research trip in south China with a Hong Kong delegation. “This is the first time that I had it, and I find it very delicious.”

The post also includes pictures from the alleged banquet, including the pangolin dish and a group photo of Li with several government officials. All of his posts were later deleted after wide online circulation.

In response to the extensive public attention, Guangxi Investment Promotion Agency, which was hosting the Hong Kong delegation, said that they cannot recognize any of its leaders or employees among the diners in the photo. It also claimed that there is no senior official surnamed Li or Huang when the post was published on July 15, 2015.

The current Party secretary of the agency, named Huang Wenbiao, is said to have been in Singapore at the time and was only appointed to the job on July 21.

According to a written statement issued on Feb. 8, the Hong Kong business delegation revealed that all the members were having group buffet dinner during their visit in Guangxi between July 8 and 10, and Li did not return to Hong Kong with rest of the group. “The alleged pangolin dinner was Li’s personal involvement and the delegation has nothing to do with the case.”

The investigation is still underway.

The Chinese pangolin, one of the eight species of pangolins, has been heavily hunted and trafficked for its meat and scales, which are believed to have medicinal qualities.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature listed the Chinese pangolin as “critically endangered” in 2014 on the basis of predicted decline of up to 90 percent over the next couple of decades.

Late last year, Shanghai customs officials seized more than 3 tons of pangolin scales – the largest pangolin seizure in China’s history, officials said.

China will continue cracking down on surrogacy, despite recent speculation that the country may loosen related policies, reports said on Wednesday.

Mao Qun’an, a spokesperson of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, speaks during a press conference Wednesday in Beijing. [Photo:China.org.cn]

“We will continue cracking down on the illegal practice of surrogacy to ensure people’s safe, legal and efficient access to assisted reproductive technology,” said Mao Qun’an, a spokesperson of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, during a press conference on Wednesday.

The state-run People’s Daily published a story recently which quoted several experts who argued that the country should loosen its restraints on surrogacy. The story was then interpreted by some as a signal that the country would loosen its grip. But Mao responded that surrogacy is still prohibited in China, citing a law in 2001 which banned surrogacy in any form.

According to the People’s Daily article, there are 90 million Chinese households which are eligible to have a second child after the country loosened its one-child policy in 2015. But 60 percent of the females are 35 years old or above, and 50 percent are more than 40 years old, making it quite difficult for them to have a second child.

Experts in that article also cited the high rate of diseases which cause lowered fertility and loss of children in a Chinese household as reasons for surrogacy to be allowed.

An artist’s impression of the newly-built Confucius Museum in Qufu, Shandong province. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Confucius Museum in Qufu, Shandong province – the birthplace of China’s most famous sage – will be opened in the second half of this year, a local official said on Wednesday, describing it as the country’s first comprehensive museum to focus on Confucius (551-479 BC) and his ideology.

“Work on the exhibition center, the main building of the museum complex, has been completed, while detailed work on exhibition platforms and landscaping is underway,” said Zhang Lizheng of the Qufu Culture Industry Park where the museum is located.

The museum complex, with a total investment of 700 million yuan ($102 million), consists of an exhibition center and six subordinate halls, covering a total of 57,000 square meters.

The museum is a cultural project showcasing Confucian teachings and relics collected by generations of Confucius, as well as a place to learn about traditional culture, said Yang Jinquan, deputy head of the Qufu bureau of cultural relics.

Construction of the museum started in 2013, but was disrupted due to financial issues and discussions over how to present the essence of Confucian thoughts and teachings in the most accurate way.

Local government statistics show that by the end of last year, a total of 380 million yuan had been spent on the museum.

Yang Chaoming, head of the Confucius Research Institute in Qufu, said the museum is of great importance.

“Currently, people learn Confucian teachings mainly from textbooks and at the Confucius Temple. At the museum, visitors will be able to gain a more in-depth understanding about Confucius and his teachings via images, modern technologies and relics related to the sage,” said Yang Chaoming, who is also a member of the provincial political advisory body.

Yang Yitang, an expert on Confucian studies at the Jining bureau of cultural relics, said, “About 350,000 Confucius-related relics and archives that now rest in storerooms will be better protected and presented to the public, helping experts and tourists to learn about the sage.”

Teachings of Confucius, an educator and philosopher, deeply influenced later Chinese generations. He was the first Chinese to set up private schools and enroll students from all walks of life.

The government of Shandong is exhibiting the work of Confucius to promote traditional Chinese culture.

Guo Shuqing, governor of Shandong, said in his government work report at the ongoing sixth session of the 12th Shandong Provincial People’s Congress, the province’s top legislature, that Shandong will continue to promote the essence of traditional Chinese culture, completing construction of the Confucius Museum and opening it to the public this year.