This kind of thing is pretty disturbing, but considering that human rights are still often violated in China it is not surprising that animals are not given much consideration there. I hope that sometime in my lifetime we see compassion for both human lives and animal lives there.
FWIW, I think some Chinese would take umbrage at the assertion that “Westerners have told them, so why don’t they listen?” - unless I’m being whooshed (it happens a lot). Honestly, I think the Asian cultures in general, and specifically Chinese culture, don’t really give much credence to Western mores when they conflict. There seems to be this sense of “well, it’s worked for us for a few thousand years, when those Westerners who weren’t living in caves were demonstrating their concern for animal rights by staging fights between lions and elephants in the Colosseum.”
As for the mindset behind this attitude towards animal rights, I once had a coworker of Chinese descent explain it thusly (paraphrasing from memory):
He wasn’t defending their treatment of animals - actually, he’s pretty appalled by it, being second-generation Chinese-American, and vegetarian to boot. He merely offered that by way of explanation.
They have no concept of HUMAN rights either, so it follows that animals would be just as bad off.
Right. My friend knew this guy who visited China once. He woke up in a tub full of ice with a badly sutured incision above his gall bladder.
Then why not bear penis or bear bacon? Anything that requires the death of the bear seems like it would be equally difficult to obtain and gall bladder doesn’t really conjure up images legendary mystical power.
Was your friend a bear?