In the past few years, Taiwan has seen a sharp spike in the number of animals smuggled to China. Most of them are 53 Chinese box turtles and yellow pond turtles. From 2006 to 2013, more than 11,000 turtles were confiscated from smugglers. In Taiwan, each turtle sells for $30 but in China, they can fetch up to $200. Last year saw an especially large number of confiscations: 7,010 turtles were confiscated by Taiwan’s coast guard -- more than any other year.54 in China, they would be worth $1.4m. 55 is Chinese people’s increasing wealth and appetite for exotic cuisine, unusual pets and traditional Chinese medicine. Turtles are the easiest target because they stand a better chance of surviving the smuggling process -- they can go without food and water for longer periods of time 56 other animals. The turtles are also considered by Chinese as good luck charms that can bring fortune to their owners.

        Stereotypes are a kind of gossip about the world, a gossip that makes us pre-judge people before we ever lay eyes on them.  36  , it is not surprising that stereotypes have something to do with the dark world of prejudice. Explore most prejudices and you will find a cruel stereotype at the core of each one. Why is it that we stereotype the world in such irrational and harmful  37  ? In part, we begin to  38  people in our childhood years. Early in life, as every parent whose child has watched TV knows, we learn to spot the Good Guys  39  the Bad Guys. Some years ago, a social psychologist showed very clearly how powerful these stereotypes of childhood vision are. He secretly asked the most popular kids in an elementary school to make errors in the morning gym exercises.  40  , he asked the class if anyone had noticed any mistakes during gym period. Oh, yes, said the children. But it was the unpopular students in class—the “bad guys”—they remembered as being out of step.