The Chinese government is facing a diplomatic crisis due to outrage spurred by reports of alleged coronavirus-related discrimination against Africans in China.
According to reports, Africans, particularly students and expatriates, in Guangzhou, China, were subjected to discrimination amidst the coronavirus pandemic. This is expected to cause diplomatic tensions between China and African nations.
Last week, African nationals were allegedly forced to undergo coronavirus testing and an arbitrary 14-day self-quarantine regardless of their recent travel history. Some were also left homeless after landlords evicted them and hotels refused to let them stay in their facilities.
The reports follow growing concerns in recent weeks of a possible second wave of coronavirus outbreak brought into the country by overseas travelers after the government claimed that it has contained the virus.
In response the reports, governments, media outlets and citizens in Africa expressed anger toward the increasing anti-foreigner sentiment in China as videos of Africans being harassed by police, sleeping on the streets or being locked into their homes under quarantine circulated online.
Kenya’s largest newspaper on Saturday printed a headline on its front page “Kenyans in China: Rescue us from hell.” A member of the country’s parliament is now calling for Chinese nationals to immediately leave the country.
In Uganda, South Africa and Nigeria, TV stations also covered stories of the alleged mistreatment of African nationals in China.
The recent incidents is seen as a threat to China's diplomatic efforts in Africa as African nations have become critical diplomatic and trade partners to the country. In 2019, China's General Administration of Customs reported that trade with Africa amounted to $208 billion.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian released a statement denying that China had been singling out foreigners.
Zhao said: "We are still facing great risks of imported cases and domestic resurgence. Particularly, as the pandemic spreads all over the world, imported cases are causing mounting pressure.”
"All foreigners are treated equally. We reject differential treatment, and we have zero tolerance for discrimination," he added.
Chinese-African relations
African nations are often perceived as the weaker partner in bilateral relations with China and the US has continuously warned other countries of the so-called Chinese debt trap diplomacy.
The concept refers to a situation where countries are forced to hand over key assets to service loans they can't make repayments on, which could affect their sovereignty.
However, African governments have recently demonstrated that they are quick to demand an explanation from China on the treatment of their citizens.
On Twitter, Nigerian lawmaker Oloye Akin Alabi posted a video of Zhou Pingjian, the Chinese ambassador to Nigeria, being questioned by a Nigerian politician over the mistreatment of Africans in Guangzhou.
In the video, Zhou was made to watch clips of Africans allegedly being mistreated in China. Oloye captioned the post with the message that his government would "not tolerate maltreatment of Nigerians in China."
Uganda and Ghana have also summoned their respective Chinese ambassadors to discuss what the Ghanaians called "the inhumane treatment being meted out."
On Saturday, African Union Commission chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat posted on Twitter that he had invited the Chinese ambassador to the AU to personally discuss the allegations.
