General News of Saturday, 11 April 2020
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2020-04-11#ChinaMustExplain takes over Twitter after African community is targeted in China coronavirus crackdown
Coronavirus test kits
There is incessant fury as some people have taken to social media platform Twitter to express discontentment over what they say is nothing but racist and xenophobic in China’s fight against Coronavirus.
Africans in southern China's largest city, Guangzhou, say they have become targets of suspicion and have subsequently been subjected to forced evictions. According to
Read full articlethem, they have been rendered homeless having been evicted from their homes by landlords and turned away from hotels. That is not all. They claim they have been subjected to arbitrary quarantines and mass coronavirus testing as the country tightens measures to control the spread of the disease.
CNN reports that a publication on the People’s Government of Guangdong Province’s website on April 4 alleged that a Nigerian national with Covid-19 had attacked a Chinese nurse who tried to stop him leaving an isolation ward at a Guangzhou hospital. The report was shared widely on social media, and local Africans CNN spoke to say a racist backlash against the African community followed.
As at April 7, Guangzhou had reported 111 imported cases, including 25 foreign nationals. Among them, 9 were from Nigeria, 3 from Angola, 2 from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and 2 from Niger. Fearing a cluster among the African community, Guangzhou authorities upgraded the risk level of Yuexiu and Baiyun, the areas home to the city's two African enclaves, from low to medium, state-owned Global Times reported.
“COVID-19 control work is aimed at safeguarding both Chinese and foreigners' health and safety in the country, and procedures are carried out regardless of nationality,” China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zhao Lijian was quoted to have said at Tuesday's routine press conference.
But it does appear the explanation given by authorities leaves much to be desired. Disgruntled individuals are calling out the Chinese government, arguing that Africans deserve better while others are suggesting it is time for Africa to wake up from its slumber and unite.
Here are a few of the comments:
