Posted on 07/19/2007 7:29:12 PM PDT by JACKRUSSELL
BEIJING -- A clash in China between two groups of Tibetans over the right to harvest a traditional medicine killed six people and injured more than 100 others, an official and a rights group said Wednesday.
The clashes erupted Friday last week in Sichuan province between ethnic Tibetans from two neighboring towns that have been embroiled in a dispute over caterpillar fungus, which it is believed can boost the immune system.
"There were clashes between the two towns, but we are not allowed to speak publicly about this," a government spokeswoman at Ganzi prefecture, which overseas the areas in southwestern China where the clashes occurred, told AFP by phone.
According to the Hong Kong based Information Center of Human Rights and Democracy, six people from Sangdu town were killed and 110 injured after villagers from neighboring Dengpo township opened fire with semi-automatic arms and tossed hand grenades at them at a bridge crossing on Friday.
The group of Sangdu residents had just visited the local county offices to complain about people from Dengpo harvesting the fungus in lands belonging to Sangdu, the rights group said.
Over 1,000 police subsequently surrounded Dengpo town and were trying to apprehend those responsible for the attacks, it said. Possessing guns and arms such as hand grenades is a major criminal offense in China.
Police in Ganzi prefecture refused to comment when contacted by AFP.
The harvesting of caterpillar fungus, an expensive Chinese herbal medicine, is a key industry in the region, the Hong Kong democracy center said.
Caterpillar fungus in Chinese traditional medicine is thought able to fight tumors and boost the immune system. Chinese athletes are known to use the medicine to help them recover after competition.
Should have stuck with the tiger penis. Idiots.
[caterpillar fungus]
Lol, I guess that’s the next thing we will be finding in our imported Chinese products!!
.
Shark fins, dinosaur bones, bear feet, all kinds of weird stuff they think is magical
But Pandas are protected?
No wonder their new helicopter prototypes crash
And Red China thinks it is going to the moon?
Not unless Slick Willie is re-elected in 2008
Lol, they may be a lot better at ‘tech’ than in food production!
I love my Chinese restaurants but am even a bit leery of them right now.
Had that been Detroit or LA it would have been Assault rifles
On another note, Those Chinese will eat anything.
thinking...
'I found some athletic socks in the attic that have some sort of growth on them. Guess I should have washed them before putting them away. I wonder.....'
A fungus among us ...
All of the Chinese Olympic athletes take this stuff. Its quite real. Attempts to duplicate it in labs here have been ineffective, but you can get the real thing in the US if you know where to look. Expensive though. If you can afford the $ it is well worth it.
Will someone explain why competing groups of Tibetans would be harvesting this fungus in Sichuan province?
“Caterpillar fungus in Chinese traditional medicine is thought able to fight tumors and boost the immune system.”
In my experience, it also helps with blood pressure.
“Will someone explain why competing groups of Tibetans would be harvesting this fungus in Sichuan province?”
Money. The trade is most lucrative.
Why would local Chinese from Sichuan allow Tibetans to reap the rewards from the harvest?
At over $1000 per pound, I tend to doubt it. - Tango Nutrition uses it in some of their products, but not much! (and the evidence shows that it does work)
Deacon: the western portion of the province is populated by a lot of Tibetans. In fact, I think the average Tibetan considers this area to be part of Tibet.
Does Tango Nutrition use the real stuff, imported from the area? Or do they claim to grow their own?
Thank you. I see where this is Ganzi prefecture, also known as Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. I couldn’t imagine ethnic Chinese allowing Tibetans harvest valuable, natural resources to which said Chinese would have a claim.
There are some who see the Maoist rebellion in Tibet as an attempt to corner the market in this stuff. I think its one of Tibet’s top cash producers.
Strange fungus: Coming to a Wal-Mart near you.....
“stuck with the tiger penis”
Now that’s comedy -
Good1
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