A mural in the Chinese district of Rome shows an Asian woman wearing a protective suit saying, “There is an epidemic of ignorance around ... We must protect ourselves” and holding a placard that reads #JeNeSuisPaSunVirus (I am not a virus), a hashtag created by French Asians in reaction to anti-Asian racism amid the coronavirus public health emergency. Photo: EPA-EFE A mural in the Chinese district of Rome shows an Asian woman wearing a protective suit saying, “There is an epidemic of ignorance around ... We must protect ourselves” and holding a placard that reads #JeNeSuisPaSunVirus (I am not a virus), a hashtag created by French Asians in reaction to anti-Asian racism amid the coronavirus public health emergency. Photo: EPA-EFE
A mural in the Chinese district of Rome shows an Asian woman wearing a protective suit saying, “There is an epidemic of ignorance around ... We must protect ourselves” and holding a placard that reads #JeNeSuisPaSunVirus (I am not a virus), a hashtag created by French Asians in reaction to anti-Asian racism amid the coronavirus public health emergency. Photo: EPA-EFE
Brian YS Wong
Opinion

Opinion

Brian YS Wong

The West unleashes a new strain of racism in the name of coronavirus prevention

  • The Covid-19 outbreak has become an excuse for some to justify their prejudice
  • They cherry-pick Chinese eating habits and conduct to bolster a sense of cultural superiority, and sneer at Asian public health practices while demonising an entire people in the guise of protecting public health

Brian YS Wong
Brian YS Wong

Updated: 9:15am, 23 Feb, 2020

Why you can trust SCMP
A mural in the Chinese district of Rome shows an Asian woman wearing a protective suit saying, “There is an epidemic of ignorance around ... We must protect ourselves” and holding a placard that reads #JeNeSuisPaSunVirus (I am not a virus), a hashtag created by French Asians in reaction to anti-Asian racism amid the coronavirus public health emergency. Photo: EPA-EFE A mural in the Chinese district of Rome shows an Asian woman wearing a protective suit saying, “There is an epidemic of ignorance around ... We must protect ourselves” and holding a placard that reads #JeNeSuisPaSunVirus (I am not a virus), a hashtag created by French Asians in reaction to anti-Asian racism amid the coronavirus public health emergency. Photo: EPA-EFE
A mural in the Chinese district of Rome shows an Asian woman wearing a protective suit saying, “There is an epidemic of ignorance around ... We must protect ourselves” and holding a placard that reads #JeNeSuisPaSunVirus (I am not a virus), a hashtag created by French Asians in reaction to anti-Asian racism amid the coronavirus public health emergency. Photo: EPA-EFE
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Brian YS Wong

Brian YS Wong

Brian Wong is a DPhil in Politics candidate at Balliol College, Oxford, a Rhodes Scholar (Hong Kong 2020), and the founding editor-in-chief of the Oxford Political Review.