China snubs our readers’ call to stop bear cruelty
SUNDAY EXPRESS calls to ban the torture of caged bears for their bile have been spurned by the Chinese.
In an outrageous snub to thousands of readers, the Chinese Embassy waved away a petition urging the ambassador to end the barbaric practice.
We made a direct appeal to His Excellency Liu Xiaoming to help free the estimated 15,000 Asiatic black bears held captive on battery farms in China.
Entombed in tiny cages, the animals have holes drilled into their stomach so their bile can be painfully extracted twice a day for traditional medicine.
More than 6,000 readers signed our coupons calling for the trade to end.
When Sunday Express editor Martin Townsend visited the embassy in central London on Wednesday he was prevented from handing over the box of the coupons and ordered to leave.
In farcical scenes, Chinese diplomats claimed nobody was available to collect the box as the only member of staff inside their sprawling, heavily guarded building was a lone receptionist. They suggested we post the coupons.
Mr Townsend said: “The extraction of bile from live bears is one of the most heinous acts of animal cruelty I have come across.
“For the Chinese authorities in London simply to refuse to engage with our readers’ legitimate concerns about this practice is inexplicable. I refuse to believe the callous attitude of the Chinese authorities on this matter will be one its subjects will take any pride in.”
The snub came days after embassy officials tried desperately to defend the trade. A spokeswoman sneered: “It is no different to hens being kept in battery conditions in Britain.”
Simon Pope of the World Society for the Protection of Animals plans to raise the matter with deputy PM Nick Clegg, who is to visit China later this year.
Today we print another coupon demanding this practice be outlawed and insisting the Chinese accept our protest. Please fill it in and send it.