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A group of officials accused of assaulting reporters investigating their luxury banquet had been dining on endangered giant salamander, a Chinese newspaper reported on Monday.

The Guangzhou-based Southern Metropolis Daily said its reporters had visited a restaurant in Shenzhen after hearing that a group of officials had gathered for a luxury banquet. After one reporter, Chen Lewei, identified himself to the guests, he said he was punched and slapped in the face. Another said he was scratched and his phone stolen, while a third was choked and had his camera smashed.

The Shenzhen government announced Monday evening that 14 police had been suspended pending an investigation into the incident.



Under President Xi Jinping, the Chinese government has tried to cut back on official extravagance, a campaign that has come with a catchphrase of “four dishes and one soup” to describe the promotion of simple meals.

One of the dishes at the Shenzhen banquet was decidedly exotic. The newspaper reported that the group had, among other things, consumed a Chinese giant salamander. The amphibian, which can grow up to six feet in length and is known as the “baby fish” in Chinese for its distinctive cry, is a critically endangered species.

The giant salamander has been legally protected in China since 1988, and the country has set up at least 22 nature reserves in central and southern China to conserve its habitat. But because of environmental degradation and poaching, the wild population has drastically declined. The salamander’s meat is traditionally believed to have immunity and anti-aging properties, which drives its consumption.

Over the past decade, Chinese farmers have developed the ability to cultivate giant salamanders in captivity. While the animal is difficult to breed and takes years to grow, the market for it has exploded because of the price of its meat, which can exceed $100 a pound. Salamanders can legally be sold by licensed farms, although the high prices have spurred the growth of unregulated production, according to Chinese researchers.

The restaurant the officials visited was permitted to sell dishes made from animals traditionally caught in the wild, Southern Metropolis Daily reported. One of the attendees obtained the amphibian from a farm in Guizhou Province, though it was not clear whether the farm was authorized to raise and sell giant salamanders, the newspaper said.

The increased cultivation of the giant salamander has done little to help its survival in the wild, and it may even have made matters worse, as poached wild animals are passed off as farm-raised, the scholars Dai Qiang, Wang Yuezhao and Liang Gang wrote in 2009.

Officials in Shenzhen told the newspaper that the banquet was hosted by Wang Yinghang, who had retired from the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau.