True or false? Zambia accuses China of selling human flesh; latter denies reports!

(Image for representational purposes only)

Zee Media Bureau/Udita Madan

New Delhi: Egregious images of China preparing to sell human flesh packaged as meat in Africa, have been doing the rounds on various social networking sites.

However, the Chinese government has refuted all reports claiming that this was a strategy laid out to harm China's image and relations with Africa.

It is old news that China's increased involvement in Africa has been met with a fair amount of backlash from some communities.

China’s ambassador to Zambia, Yang Youming, has released a stern statement saying that, “This is completely a malicious slandering and vilification, which is absolutely unacceptable to us”, according to a report in Naij.com.

The news first came to light after reports surfaced that accused China of marinating human dead bodies, packaging them in cans and then selling them in African supermarkets.

The blame game began after Chinese media alleged that Zambia was spreading baseless rumours and had an ulterior motive that sought to destroy the deep-rooted partnership between China and Zambia.

After the stories started circulating, they were picked up from numerous social media sites by a number of blogs and publications.

Check out a Facebook post sharing the allegations below:

Even though these images have already been termed as false, Naij.com said that some reports quoted people who allegedly worked in Chinese meat factories as saying that the practice had begun because China had run out of space to bury their dead or that Beijing reserved its good, nonhuman meat for more powerful countries.

There was evidently a demand from Zambia by the Chinese government to investigate the matter, directed at Zambian Deputy Defense Minister Christopher Mulenga.

Mulenga soon released a statement that said, “The government of Zambia regrets the incident in view of the warm relations that exist between Zambia and China. We shall make sure that relevant government authorities will take up the investigations and give a comprehensive statement”, according to Naij.com reports.