Coronavirus: Chinese diplomats deny mistreatment claims following angry protests from African nations
- Embassy in Nigeria rejects complaint that five Nigerians had been ill treated by quarantine workers in Guangzhou
- A string of countries across the continent have complained following reports that Africans faced racial discrimination and ‘inhumane’ treatment in the southern Chinese city
The Chinese embassy in Nigeria has denied that quarantine workers in China have mistreated the African country’s citizens following a series of angry protests from across the continent.
A string of countries have complained that their citizens faced racial discrimination and “inhumane treatment” in Guangzhou, where it has been reported that Africans were being targeted after five Nigerians with links to the same restaurant tested positive for Covid-19.
Their complaints include allegations that people were being forced to sleep on the streets after being evicted from their homes and hotels, or subjected to forced quarantine.
On Friday the Chinese ambassador to Nigeria Zhou Pingjian met the speaker of the country’s House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila, who made the diplomat watch a video that he said showed quarantine workers mistreating people.
Gbajabiamila posted a video of his meeting with Zhou on Twitter, in which he is heard saying: “I’m almost undiplomatic in the way I am talking, but it is because I am upset about what’s going on.”