Foreigners victimised as Beijing accused of stoking xenophobia

FOREIGNERS in China are being barred from supermarkets, hotels and public spaces amid suspicion they will reimport coronavirus.

In effect from tomorrow, China has ordered its airlines to fly only one route to any country, on just one flight each week. Foreign airlines must comply with similar curbs on incoming flights.

About 90 per cent of flights into China will be suspended, cutting arrivals to 5,000 a day, from 25,000.

From today, China is also temporarily suspending entry for foreigners with valid visas and residence permits.

Daily new cases – as reported by officials – are in the tens rather than the thousands seen in Europe, and most involve travellers to China. However, the Communist Party has failed to inform people that around 90 per cent of the 427 people who entered China carrying the virus as of March 23 are Chinese, stoking xenophobia.

Oliver, a British teacher in Shanghai, was prevented from renting a home by a landlord. “As soon as I arrived, the landlord said, ‘We won’t rent to foreigners; foreigners aren’t allowed to come in,’” he told The Daily Telegraph. “He sees a white face, and he doesn’t want to rent to me,” said Oliver, 33, who has lived in China for eight years and refused to give his last name for fear of harassment. Passers-by cross the street to avoid foreigners, sometimes berating them for congregating in public.

“Just walking down the street, people will jump away,” said Laura, 36, an American who has lived in China for 11 years. Foreigners attending classes at a cultural centre she runs have been harassed by compound guards. They were “screaming at them, hollering, and telling them they can’t come in,” she said. ♦ Photos of thousands of urns awaiting collection in Wuhan have raised questions about the death toll in China.

Images showed long lines of relatives waiting at funeral homes for the remains of their loved ones, renewing pressure on the Communist Party to reveal the full truth about Covid-19.

The Chinese government claimed 2,535 people died in Wuhan, but images obtained by the Caixin media outlet appear to contradict that. Trucks shipped in about 2,500 urns to one funeral home on Wednesday and Thursday, it reported, while another image showed 3,500 urns, although it was unclear how many had been filled.