Paul McCartney has angrily denounced China and vowed never to perform there after seeing "horrific" undercover film of dogs and cats being brutalized and then killed for their fur.
The former Beatle condemned images of the animals being killed in a fur market in Guangzhou, adding that he intends to stay away from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He and his wife Heather, a committed animal-rights supporter, also urged people to boycott Chinese goods, which drew a sharp response from the Chinese embassy in London.
In the film, shot for the People for the Ethical treatment of Animals (PETA) campaign group, dogs and cats are pictured being thrown from the top deck of a converted bus on to concrete pavements.
The screaming animals, many with their paws now smashed from the fall, are then lifted up with long metal tongs and thrown over a 2m fence.
Some are beaten by laughing workers. All are then killed and skinned for their fur. Many are believed still to be alive as their skins are peeled away.
The McCartneys looked aghast and close to tears as they watched the footage for a special report on BBC television's Six O'Clock News, to be screened today.
"This is barbaric. Horrific," Paul McCartney said. "It's like something out of the Dark Ages. And they seem to get a kick out it. There's even a woman doing it. They're just sick, sick people."
"I wouldn't even dream of going over there to play, in the same way I wouldn't go to a country that supported apartheid. This is just disgusting. It's against every rule of humanity. I couldn't go there," he said.
"I wouldn't go there while this goes on. If this is stopped, then it's a different affair," he added.
In another piece of footage, shot last summer by an undercover investigator connected to PETA, cats are seen squirming inside a sack, which is then thrown into a vat of steaming water.
They are boiled to death and skinned by a fleecing machine.
Campaigners estimate that more than 2 million dogs and cats are killed for their fur in China every year. The rapidly expanding economic giant, which also farms animals such as mink for their fur, makes over half of the world's fur products.
The comments by McCartney will come as a blow for his Chinese fans -- the Beatles are hugely popular in the country.
"People think because China is going to host the Olympics then they must be coming into the modern world, but then you see this sort of stuff," he said. "Surely the authorities there must realize how bad this looks? How can the host nation of the Olympics be seen allowing animals to be treated in this terrible way?"
"If they want to consider themselves a civilized nation, they're going to have to stop this. They just can't do this sort of thing any more. People should force themselves to watch this, so they know what is really going on there," he said.
China's embassy in Britain strongly rejected the claims.
A spokesman said: "I have not seen this footage so am yet to be convinced of its authenticity. The distribution of the fur trade happens mostly in the European and American markets, so the fashion industries in Europe and America are to be at least partly blamed for this. I do not agree with the call for a boycott of Chinese goods."
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)