Coronavirus: more than 100 Hong Kong restaurants refuse to serve customers from mainland China, investigation reveals
- Businesses are openly discriminating against mainland Chinese during the epidemic, probe finds
- Society for Community Organisation calls for wider definition of race discrimination to cover prejudice against mainlanders
More than 100 restaurants in Hong Kong have refused to serve diners from mainland China during the coronavirus outbreak, according to a human rights group that is warning firms against crossing the line into racial discrimination.
The Society for Community Organisation (SoCO) found the businesses were posting messages online or displaying notices at their premises barring Mandarin speakers and non-locals, while secret shopper visits revealed mainlanders were being turned away.
Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong, from SoCO, said the health crisis did not justify discriminatory practices against visitors to the city and recent immigrants from the mainland.
“Of course restaurants should take different [public health] measures, but they should not do it in a way that strips some people of their rights or discriminates against them,” the veteran activist said in a press conference on Thursday.
Hong Kong has 104 confirmed cases of the coronavirus originating from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, including two deaths. The virus, which causes the deadly illness Covid-19, has infected more than 80,400 people on the mainland.