Earlier this week we reported on the row between Lord Antony Rufus-Issacs and Sir David Tang, owner of China Tang at The Dorchester Hotel, over the sale of shark fin soup by the restaurant.
The End of the Line started a campaign to ask China Tang not to serve shark fin soup, which proved to be short-lived as Sir David agreed not to serve the soup at the London restaurant following pressure from environment groups.
Screenshot of the Island Tang website showing shark fin soup
However, Sir David has come under renewed attack after it became clear that shark fin soup remains on the menu of Island Tang, the Hong Kong restaurant that he also runs. Continue reading ‘The End of the Line renews call to Sir David Tang to end sale of shark fin soup’
The End of the Line's Chris Gorell-Barnes and Charles Clover outside Number 10
The makers of The End of the Line met with Downing Street officials this morning to outline their campaign, as news of further successes inspired by the film came to light.
Earlier this week The End of the Line launched a campaign to ask China Tang, the restaurant at The Dorchester run by Sir David Tang, not to serve shark fin soup.
We can now report that Sir David has said the restaurant will not be serving the soup.
Conservationist Lord Antony Rufus-Issacs had said that when he ate at China Tang he was offered shark fin soup - which was not on the menu. Having been inspired by The End of the Line, Lord Antony wrote to Sir David to protest.
There followed an angry email exchange between the two which led to a story in Richard Kay’s column in the Daily Mail and the launch of our short-lived, but successful, campaign.
The other piece of good news this week was for bluefin tuna, following the Netherlands’ announcement yesterday that it was backing proposals by Monaco to add the Atlantic bluefin to Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
This came after France and Britain supported the global trade ban on the fish, late last week.
More news on the outcome of The End of the Line’s visit to Downing Street will follow in the coming days and weeks.
- Bluefin tuna update, 23rd July: Germary has announced that it is supporting the addition of Atlantic bluefin tuna to Appendix I of CITES
