Government stumbles into new China diplomatic row over COVID-19

CHINA’S EMBASSY in Brazil responded with outrage on Monday to a social media post by Brazil’s Education Minister Abraham Weintraub that appeared to mock Chinese accents while insinuating the Asian giant stood to benefit from the coronavirus pandemic – apparently reigniting a smoldering diplomatic row between Brazil and its largest trading partner.

The embassy described the post as “defamatory”, “stigmatising”, “completely absurd and despicable”, and “having a strongly racist manner”.

Weintraub posted a cartoon depicting China with a message – with r’s swapped for l’s, apparently to ridicule the Chinese accent – that insinuated the Asian giant could gain geopolitical advantages from the ongoing pandemic. The dispute comes just weeks after President Jair Bolsonaro sought to pacify a similar dispute sparked by his son.

“We demand that some Brazilian individuals immediately correct the errors they have committed and stop with unfounded accusations against China,” said the embassy statement published just after midnight. China’s ambassador Yang Wanming followed up hours later, saying he still awaits an official declaration from Brazil’s government.

The blow up comes at an inconvenient time for policymakers from Latin America’s largest economy, who are scrambling for measures to minimise the looming recession spawned by the virus. China gobbles up Brazil’s soy, iron and crude oil, and its $14 billion in exports to China in the first quarter of 2020 were equal to 29 per cent of its global total.

During Bolsonaro’s 2018 presidential campaign, he issued a series of attacks against China, calling its people “heartless” and saying he wouldn’t let it buy up Brazil. Since taking office in January 2019, however, he has reined in his vitriol, struck a more conciliatory tone and travelled to Beijing where he met China’s President Xi Jinping and courted foreign investment to help the economic recovery.