Early this May, a series of morbid photos supposedly showing marinated, canned human meat surfaced and began circulating on Facebook. Allegedly, China is producing corned beef using dead bodies and selling the canned products to Africa.
In a statement, Youming told China’s Xinhua news agency: “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.”
“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,” Youming added.
Hoax-busting website snopes.com supported Youming’s claims and revealed the true sources of the gruesome images. Apparently, the photos, which appear to show a dead human body in a slaughterhouse, was snapped during a publicity stunt in London’s Smithfield Market. Animal meat products shaped to resemble human body parts were sold in Wesker & Son Resident Evil Human Butchery.
Moreover, at least one of the photos was from the Resident Evil 6 marketing campaign in 2012.
Zambian Depute Defense Minister Christopher Mulenga also issued an apology and ordered an investigation of the incident.
“The government of Zambia regrets the incident in view of the warm relations that exist between Zambia and China,” Mulenga said.
According to Youming, rumors were started by people trying to destroy the “long-standing partnership between Zambia and China. Although China and Zambia have strong business ties, Zambian locals accused Chinese companies of paying low wages and failing to provide safe working conditions to its employee.
--Mini, The Summit Express
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| After the photos went viral, Yang Youming, China’s ambassador in Zambia, issued a statement to dispel rumours that China is indeed selling dead bodies as meat products in Africa. PHOTO CREDIT: Snopes.com |
“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,” Youming added.
Hoax-busting website snopes.com supported Youming’s claims and revealed the true sources of the gruesome images. Apparently, the photos, which appear to show a dead human body in a slaughterhouse, was snapped during a publicity stunt in London’s Smithfield Market. Animal meat products shaped to resemble human body parts were sold in Wesker & Son Resident Evil Human Butchery.
Moreover, at least one of the photos was from the Resident Evil 6 marketing campaign in 2012.
Zambian Depute Defense Minister Christopher Mulenga also issued an apology and ordered an investigation of the incident.
“The government of Zambia regrets the incident in view of the warm relations that exist between Zambia and China,” Mulenga said.
According to Youming, rumors were started by people trying to destroy the “long-standing partnership between Zambia and China. Although China and Zambia have strong business ties, Zambian locals accused Chinese companies of paying low wages and failing to provide safe working conditions to its employee.
--Mini, The Summit Express
