Baseball Bat is a Hit as a Defensive Weapon in China

While baseball has not taken off as a sport in China, the bats are popular items on auction site Taobao, where they are sold under “self-defense,” the Los Angeles Times reports:

Though baseball has barely made a dent in the consciousness of Chinese sports fans, bats are a familiar accessory in a country where the pursuit of money at all costs and a weak faith in law enforcement have led many people to take matters into their own hands.

“Chinese people do not feel safe today,” said Zhou Xiaozheng, a sociologist at People’s University in Beijing. “There’s a coldheartedness to society.”

Before mass urbanization took hold and most Chinese lived on farms, people protected themselves with the family shovel, rake or hoe.

Today, city dwellers have few options. Guns are outlawed. Daggers and machetes require permits. Shanghai and Beijing even require buyers to register their names to buy a kitchen knife.

For related stories, see the CDT tag: Thugs.

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