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COVID-19: China draws backlash for mistreating African nationals


14 April 2020  

Time taken to read : 3 Minute


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African students and expatriates in China are reportedly being evicted from their homes and mistreated over fears they could spread the novel coronavirus.

Such horrid scenes have gone viral on social media platforms of African migrants being evicted from apartments and refused entry into hotels in China.

Following the mistreatment, Chinese ambassadors across African capitals are being hauled over by foreign ministries to explain horrid scenes, international media reports stated.

The videos have enraged governments and citizens back home.

The incidents have sparked a diplomatic row with the African Union, various African governments and even the United States – all putting pressure on Beijing over the reported treatment migrants predominantly from African countries.

Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda are among those that have asked for explanations from the Chinese government. This is significant in the backdrop of growing Chinese inroads into Africa and investments across nations.

African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat expressed “extreme concern” to Chinese Ambassador Liu Yuxi about “allegations of maltreatment of Africans” in Guangzhou. In a tweet Saturday, he said the African Group in Beijing was engaging with the Chinese government.

On Saturday, the front page of Kenya’s Nation newspaper read: “Kenyans in China: Rescue us from hell” as a member of the country’s parliament called for Chinese nationals to leave Kenya immediately.

On the same day, a Nigerian lawmaker Oloye Akin Alabi posted a video on Twitter of the Chinese ambassador to Nigeria, Zhou Pingjian, being grilled by a Nigerian politician over the mistreatment of Africans in Guangzhou. This is also significant as African countries are described as the weaker partners vis-à-vis China.

African students and expatriates in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou were last week subject to forced coronavirus testing and arbitrary 14-day self-quarantine, regardless of recent travel history, amid heightened fears of imported infections, according to a report in CNN.

The fallout threatens to undermine China’s diplomatic efforts in Africa. In recent years, African nations have become key diplomatic and trade partners to Beijing, with China’s trade with Africa worth $208 billion in 2019, according to official figures from China’s General Administration of Customs, the CNN report further claimed.

(With inputs from agencies)

Publish Date : 14 April 2020 17:26 PM

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