‘Today a
local tabloid newspaper is openly spreading a rumour, claiming that the Chinese
use human meat to make corned beef and sell it to Africa,' said Yang Youming,
according to China’s Xinhua news agency.
China has
been forced to deny claims that it is marinating dead bodies, canning them and
selling them as a meat product in Africa, after a bizarre Facebook hoax went
viral.
Rumours of
the alleged trade in human meat first began circulating on social media thanks
to a series of photographs of what appeared to be skinned people in a meat
factory.
Zambian press
was accused of encouraging the rumours, after publishing articles that quoted
alleged sources from inside the Chinese meat factories.
According to
the alleged sources, the idea to use human meat came when China ran out of
space to dispose of its dead.
Others
claimed Beijing preferred to save its 'good meat' for richer, more powerful
countries. But China's ambassador to Zambia has issued a furious denial of the
allegations.
‘This is
completely a malicious slandering and vilification which is absolutely
unacceptable to us. We hereby express our utmost anger and the strongest
condemnation over such an act.’
He reportedly
claimed that the rumours were being circulated by 'people with ulterior motives
were attempting to destroy the long-standing partnership between Zambia and
China’.
One Facebook
user shared the images alongside the caption: ‘Chinese people have started
producing corned beef with their dead bodies and sending them to Africa.
‘Please stay
away from corned beef irrespective of brand, most especially in Africa and from
Afro-Asian grocery shops.’
While the
gruesome photographs were enough to fool many, hoax-busting website Snopes.com
pointed out that at least one of the images was from a 2012 marketing campaign
for the video game Resident Evil 6.
The image,
which appears to show a dead human body in an abattoir, was actually taken
during a publicity stunt in London's Smithfield Market.
A fake shop,
called Wesker & Son Resident Evil Human Butchery, sprang up at the market
selling meat products shaped to resemble human body parts.
Nevertheless,
China's ambassador to Zambia called for an investigation into the allegations,
which led to an apology from the Zambian Deputy Defence Minister Christopher
Mulenga.
Source
Daily Mail
Telegraph
Telegraph
who admit such atrocity
ReplyDeleteThis is a crime and an insults to Africa
ReplyDelete