Buying ivory is buying bullets, says Yao Ming

Above the mob: Yao being mobbed by the media while arriving for the opening of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. - AFP

BEIJING: Former NBA star Yao Ming, also a political adviser in China, wants his country to do more to stop the trade in illegal ivory.

“Buying ivory is buying bullets,” Yao, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), told reporters attending the CPPCC annual session in Beijing, heaping pressure on the world’s leading tusk consumer.