Tiong Hiew King, the founder of the behemoth Asian logging conglomerate Rimbunan Hijau, a corporation accused of systematically stripping the "paradise" forests of Indonesia, Papua, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

the Guardian Unlimited UK reports that, "environment groups around the world have called for a billionaire businessman to be stripped of his knighthood after claiming that his fortune has been built on the systematic destruction of tropical rainforests."

Last month, Mr. King was awarded an honorary knighthood "for services to commerce, the community and charitable organizations in Papua, New Guinea," according to the Queen's birthday honors list.

Rimbunau Hijau has hundreds of subsidiearies operating in southeast Asia and Africa and is the largest extractor of tropical timber from Papua, New Guinea.

According to the Guardian, "the company has also been highly active in the Solomon Islands, which campaigners say has been stripped almost bare of its indegenous forests by a handful of Asian logging syndicates including King's companies."

The honorary award to Tiong, who personally amassed a wealth estimated at over $2.7 billion, escaped notice until recently - having not been published in any British newspaper.

Only at the discretion of foreign governments can honorary awards for foreign nationals be published in Britain or made public.

Both the UK government and Buckingham Palace distance themselves from the appointment yesterday.

A spokesman for the foreign office is quoted as saying, "the Palace would have decided on the award."

The Guardian quotes a spokesman for the Palace as saying that, "the prime minister of Papua, New Guinea, supported by the governor general, would have made the recommendation to the queen. It would then have bee cleared by the Foreign Office and the Malaysian government."

To read the entire article from the Guardian Unlimited, UK, link here:

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