Coronavirus: Australia gets 1 million face masks from Wuhan in donation led by Sydney entrepreneur Richard Yuan

Yuan, chair of the Australia China Goodwill Association, said the donation had difficulties passing quality control and also faced public suspicion

The Asian community has reported a rise in racial abuse amid accusations Chinese-backed firms had depleted Australia’s medical stockpile by sending masks to Wuhan in January

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Richard Yuan, chair of the Australia China Goodwill Association. Photo: Facebook/Richard Yuan

Published: 3:30pm, 9 Apr 2020Updated: 11:29pm, 9 Apr 2020

A group of private Chinese and Australian businesses have delivered 70 tonnes of medical equipment, including one million face masks from the Chinese city of Wuhan to Sydney, amid accusations that Australia’s medical supplies stockpile had been depleted after it made humanitarian shipments to Wuhan in January as the city battled a surge of coronavirus cases.

The shipment, which included protective gear, goggles and medical gloves, arrived in Sydney’s Kingsford Smith airport on a Jinpeng Airlines cargo aircraft, flight Y87447. It was one of the first flights to depart Wuhan, after a months-long lockdown to stem the outbreak was lifted on Wednesday.

Several businesses – including the Hainan-owned Jinpeng Airlines, also known as Suparna Airlines, China’s Jiuzhou Tong Pharmaceutical Group, and a local group of businesses led by Sydney entrepreneur Richard Yuan, who chairs the local Australia China Goodwill Association – funded the flight and the goods which had been sourced from different parts of China.

Yuan said the donation was fraught with difficulties, including meeting Australian quality controls, but also dealing with what he described as a hostile local media.

Two weeks ago, The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) published reports suggesting several Chinese-backed companies had hurt Australia’s stockpile of medical equipment after sending tonnes of masks and medical equipment to Wuhan in January, when it was the only city tackling a severe outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

The articles had prompted a backlash from the Asian-Australian community. On Wednesday, the SMH ran an excerpt of an open letter by a group of prominent Asian-Australians, denouncing racial abuse towards the community.

“Australians are being targeted because of their Asian heritage or appearance and we cannot allow this disturbing trend to continue unchallenged. We ask for fairness in our national debate, our media reporting and in our communities,” the letter said.

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