Chinese help gets wary reception

PARIS: An operation by France’s Chinese community to help the diaspora during the coronavirus outbreak by distributing masks, disinfectant and gloves has prompted questions and legal problems for some of its backers. Sceptical of the French government’s response to the epidemic, the Chinese embassy, business leaders and ex-pat associations have handed out so-called “COVID kits”, masks and other protective equipment to their compatriots.

But this landed some in trouble with the law. Among the masks given out were the highly sought-after FFP2 type, which in times of critical supply shortages have been reserved for medical personnel on the frontlines of France’s coronavirus battle. Early in the outbreak, France had requisitioned all face mask stocks and production for distribution to doctors, nurses and caregivers. Yet on April 5, police in Paris detained two representatives of Chinese associations for possession of some 15,000 masks.

Two days later, three students were arrested while handing out Chinese embassy-sponsored “COVID kits” in the Paris suburbs, an operation which caused people to amass in contravention of France’s strict social distancing regulations to stem the virus spread. FFP2 masks were included in some of

the kits, along with protective gloves, disinfectant wipes and Chinese traditional medicine. The Chinese embassy in Paris insisted in a statement that there was nothing illegal. It was doing “its best... to defend the rights and legitimate interests of Chinese compatriots in France.”

‘Chinese health diplomacy’

The health crisis has strained ties between Paris and Beijing. France this week summoned the Chinese ambassador to protest a string of controversial comments by Beijing’s embassy in Paris on France’s handling of the coronavirus. And French President Emmanuel Macron told the Financial Times that things “happened that we don’t know about” in the response to the virus by China, where the pandemic originated. The “COVID kit” initiative came in response to a letter dated March 31, in the form of an urgent appeal signed by about 20 bodies representing Francebased Chinese people, whom they judged to be “in danger”.

Faced with “the inability (of the French authorities) to take appropriate protective measures”, said the authors of the letter, penned in Mandarin, they were launching an appeal for “certain protective products and medical materials”. Two days after it was sent out, the Chinese embassy in Paris launched a distribution program of “COVID kits”, using students who organize deliveries with the help of popular Chinese messaging app WeChat. There are 125,000 Chinese nationals living in France on residency permits, a small proportion of all foreigners residing in the country. — AFP