A scary new virus from China has spread around the world. So has rising anti-Chinese sentiment, calls for a full travel ban on Chinese visitors and indignities for Chinese and other Asians.
Restaurants in South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Vietnam have refused to accept Chinese customers. Indonesians marched near a hotel and called on Chinese guests there to leave. French and Australian newspapers face criticism for racist headlines. Chinese and other Asians in Europe, the United States, Asia and the Pacific complain of racism.
The anti-China sentiments come as a powerful Beijing bolsters its global influence, and China’s rise has caused trade, political and diplomatic disputes with many countries.
But with rising fear of the mysterious disease has come a more acute anti-Chinese and, in some cases, anti-Asian backlash.
A Danish paper, Jyllands-Posten, published a cartoon that replaced the yellow stars of the Chinese flag with representations of the virus. The Chinese Embassy in Copenhagen called the cartoon “an insult to China” and demanded the newspaper apologize.
The German Der Spiegel magazine ran a headline that said “made in China” along with a photo of an individual in protective gear.
On Friday, a cafe near Rome’s Trevi Fountain, a popular tourist site, posted a notice in its window saying “all people coming from China are not allowed access in this place”. When AP journalists went there to check on it, the post was no longer in the window.
The virus has also deepened anti-Chinese sentiment in Hong Kong, where months of street protests against Beijing’s influence have roiled the semi-autonomous Chinese city.
Last week, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam suspended ferry and high-speed train services to the mainland and reduced flights between Hong Kong and Chinese cities.
Tenno Ramen, a Japanese noodle restaurant in Hong Kong, is refusing to serve mainland customers.
Many Japanese have taken to social media to call for a travel ban for the Chinese visitors amid worries they’ll come to Japan for virus-related treatments. One tweet said, “Please ban Chinese tourists immediately,” while another said, “I’m so worried that my child may catch the virus.”
A candy store in Hakone, a hot springs town west of Tokyo, recently made headlines after it posted a note saying, “Chinese people’s entry into the store is prohibited.” On Wednesday, Menya Hareruya, a popular ramen chain in Sapporo on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, posted a sign saying “No entry for Chinese tourists.”
Last weekend, several hundred residents in the Indonesian tourist city of Bukittinggi marched to the Novotel Hotel, where some 170 Chinese tourists were staying, to protest their entrance into Indonesia.
They blocked roads near the hotel to prevent the Chinese, who’d arrived a day earlier, from getting out of the hotel. Local authorities decided to send the visitors back to China later in the day.
More than 400,000 Malaysians have signed an online petition calling for a ban on Chinese travelers and urging the government to “save our family and our children.”
A hotel in Danang, Vietnam, a popular beach destination, has been refusing to accept Chinese tourists.
Read more via AP
