Coronavirus: China embassy U-turns on claim Russian police singled out Chinese

Allegations that Moscow police were violent and detained Chinese nationals for no reason had come from social media, embassy says

It now says there was no discrimination and those detained by Russian police had all violated epidemic prevention regulations

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The embassy had alleged Chinese people were being discriminated against under Russia’s coronavirus containment rules. Photo: Reuters

Published: 2:46pm, 2 Mar 2020Updated: 11:34pm, 2 Mar 2020

The Chinese embassy in Russia has withdrawn its claim that Chinese nationals were being singled out for coronavirus containment measures or abused while in quarantine in the country.

The U-turn came after the embassy sent a diplomatic note to the Moscow city government last Monday claiming that only Chinese nationals appeared to be targeted by the city’s containment measures.

The concerns about Chinese people in Russia were raised following speculation on social media that they were subjected to violent law enforcement, abuse and detention for no reason by Moscow police. But the embassy’s new statement on Sunday said that those reports were not true, and that Russian authorities had strictly enforced quarantine rules against all people, including Russians.

“After verification, we found that the speculation was not true,” it said. “Those who were taken away by police had violated Russia’s quarantine rules, and in addition to Chinese nationals, Russian and other foreigners are also in the quarantine centres.”

The embassy called on Chinese nationals not to “create, believe and spread rumours”.