The awful and bizarre Chinese culture trace back to the history of China and its folk religions. Around 80% of the population in China (National surveys, early 21st century) practice Taoism- Chinese folk religion, 10–16% Buddhism and 3% of Christians and Muslims. And just like most of the religion, Taoism does not mandate not to kill or harm an animal for personal interest.
A French news agency (AFP) report shocked the world on April 18, 2011, when activists in Beijing intercepted a long-distance truck carrying over 400 dogs-hungry, exhausted, sick, and dying, to sell for food. And shocked the world again when China announced its patented bear farming technologies- the cruel practice of bile extraction from live bears. In 2005, China produced 29.26% of the world’s meat products and slaughtered 489 million pigs—51% of the pigs slaughtered in the world that year. China has a lengthy history of wildlife domestication including Civet cats, tiger farms, lizards, and snakes and in shocking conditions. For example, animals on the farm are intentionally denied proper foods. Several media exposed the shocking cruelty of China’s bear farming. There are several reports on documented crowded cages, frantic stereotypic behaviours, brutal slaughter, and live skinning, boiling and burning.
Live turtle key chains and pigs as a dummy for a car crash test are few things out of many which China is not ashamed of. Ethics were not a part of the Chinese culture so to feed billions of Chinese people, often ethics, morality, social responsibility, environmental impact, labour rights, etc., are being ignored.
Apart from cruelty in Chinese cuisine such as In China, drunken shrimp is a popular dish that involves live freshwater shrimp that are immersed in a strong liquor before eating and recommended to swallow them once the movement has ceased.
The Fur industry in China seems to be crueller due to the inhumane conditions animals subjected to. The list of animals used captivity for the fur trade seems to be never-ending, which includes minks, foxes, chinchillas, and Asiatic raccoons. Besides these beavers, lynxes, sables, seals, and weasels trapped from the wild Mink is the most popular farmed fur that dominates the Chinese market. Minks are carnivorous mammals with silky fur, native to North America. In 2014, China alone produced 35 million pelts (International Fur Federation) There are several allegations of extreme cruelty on some Chinese fur farms and reports of inhumane treatment.
It is a fact that fur is a non-essential item to human and not needed for clothing or accessories. Fur farming is an absolute immoral nutshell that starts with animal suffering and is morally beyond the pathetic. And If China wouldn’t have swapped its greedy tongue on bats, the world and its people wouldn’t have been suffering from the deadly pandemic of COVID-19.