approach to environmental stewardship.

Victor Wu, a Singapore-based activist with animal rights protection group WildAid, said that Disney's attempt to ``hide behind the veil'' of culture is disrespectful to the Chinese who began the campaign.

In Monday's Standard, Disney said cultural concerns played a role in Hong Kong Disneyland's decision to serve shark's fin soup for specially catered banquets at the company's Hong Kong hotels.

``It is customary for Chinese restaurants and 5-star hotels to serve shark's fin soup in Hong Kong as the dish is considered an integral part of Chinese banquets,'' Disney public relations manager Esther Wong told The Standard on May 23.

On Tuesday, Wong added: ``It's a fine balance, basically, between environmental stewardship and [keeping] it sensitive to the Chinese culture.''

The explanation has rankled environmentalists.

``The irresponsible way out is to throw in the cultural argument - and that is exactly the cowardly and spineless option Disney took,'' Wu wrote in an e-mail.

``This is a campaign initiated by a Chinese and supported by Chinese people around the world.

``It belittles the Chinese people to suggest that we are not also environmentally conscious and concerned about shark decline.''

Environmentalists have long complained that shark's fin soup is wasteful because millions of sharks are killed worldwide to supply the fins for the delicacy.

The rest of the bodies are discarded, thus presenting a threat to shark species.

As much as 85 percent of the world shark trade comes through Hong Kong, according to the National Geographic Society.

Wu was joined in his criticism by Brian Darvell, a Hong Kong University professor and advocate for protection of marine ecology.

Darvell said Disney was contradictory regarding environmental protection because at least one senior Disney executive sits on an environmental protection organization board.

Kym Murphy, senior vice president of corporate environmental policy for Disney, sits on the Board of Trustees for the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, an American marine protection organization.

In addition, Darvell noted, The Standard's shark's fin story has been picked up by news organizations ranging from al-Jazeera to the BBC, giving the story global impact.

``What seems to have happened here is that Disney has such a global reach and visibility that the incongruity of this item has struck a chord,'' he said.

Darvell, Wu and others have been bombarding Disney CEO Michael Eisner and other officials with e-mails about the shark's fin issue, but so far the company has not responded.

douglas.crets@singtaonewscorp.com