CITY DENIES DISCRIMINATION TO AFRICANS

BEIJING China dismissed on Monday allegations levelled by African and U.S. diplomats that foreigners of African appearance in the city of Guangzhou, near Hong Kong, were being subjected to forceful testing for coronavirus, quarantine and ill treatment. “We do not have discrimination in China against African brothers,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a briefing, accusing the U.S. of trying to exploit the issue to harm Beijing’s relations with African nations.

A group of ambassadors in Beijing had written to China’s State Councillor Wang Yi drawing attention to the discrimination Africans were encountering in Guangzhou, after which the U.S. consulate in the city also issued an alert advising African-Americans to stay away from the area, warning that the city’s authorities had told bars and restaurants to refuse to serve people who “appear to be of African origin” and launched mandatory tests and self-quarantine of anyone with “African contacts.”

The ambassadors’ note highlighted a number of reported incidents, including that Africans were being ejected from hotels in the middle of the night, having their passports seized, and threatened with revocation of visas, deportation or arrest.