Xenophobia and racism related to the COVID-19 pandemic

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The 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, which was first reported in the city of Wuhan, Hubei, China, in December 2019, has led to increased prejudice, xenophobia, discrimination, violence and racism against Chinese people and people of East Asian and Southeast Asian descent and appearance around the world, and to some extent against people from other hotspots.

Anti-xenophobia poster at a subway station in New York City amid the coronavirus pandemic

Africa

Cameroon

The US embassy in Yaoundé issued a travel warning to US citizens amid reports of "...verbal and online harassment, stone throwing, and banging on vehicles occupied by expatriates."

Egypt

According to the Embassy of Japan in Cairo, store clerks have been hesitating to serve Japanese customers, and "corona" has also become a new slur with which to abuse Japanese people on the street.

On 10 March 2020, an Uber driver was arrested after a viral video showing the driver forcibly removing his Chinese passenger at a highway in Cairo's Maadi district on suspicion of having the virus. In the video, a voice is heard in the video jokingly shouting "The first coronavirus case in Egypt!" and the same voice then tells the driver "May God support you, Hajji! Throw him out!." The incident has sparked outrage among Egyptians after the video was uploaded. Some Egyptians visited the Chinese man in his hotel and expressed apology to him for the incident, widely condemned in the local media as an act of bullying and racism.

Ethiopia

Violence towards foreigners has been reported amidst the pandemic, with some locals attacking foreigners on social media by publishing photos of them and linking them to the coronavirus. The Foreign Correspondents Association of Ethiopia had warned that “dangerous rumours” and “vicious posts” were being spread on the internet about foreign journalists, while other foreigners had been physically attacked.

Kenya

A video reportedly recorded in Kenya shows an angry crowd threatening a man and woman of Asian descent about the coronavirus. A man in the crowd shouts at the frightened couple, “You are corona!” A person in the crowd later raised his hand threatening to slap the Asian man. Growing unease towards Chinese immigrants has been reported in the streets of Nairobi.

An alleged Kenyan member of parliament posted in a Facebook message that his constituents had the right to stone and chase away any Chinese visitors who were not quarantined. A Kenyan taxi driver told BBC that Chinese nationals had been changing their user names on taxi hailing apps to avoid their passenger request being declined.

Nigeria

Geopolitical analyst Ovigwe Eguegu reported that "a plethora of conspiracy theories, and videos of Asians (some Chinese) eating bats, and other exotic animals" on Nigerian social media has led to increased Sinophobia.

South Africa

An ethnic Chinese man in Johannesburg told Deutsche Welle that violent comments such as "wipe the Chinese people out", "hope this virus gets all of them" etc. have been expressed in the country.

Asia

China

Although there has been support from Chinese online towards those in virus-stricken areas, instances of regional discrimination have also arisen. According to World Journal, there have been instances of Wuhan natives in other provinces being turned away from hotels, having their ID numbers, home addresses and telephone numbers deliberately leaked online or dealing with harassing phone calls from strangers. Some places also reportedly had signs saying "people from Wuhan and cars from Hubei are not welcomed here." Multiple hotels purportedly refused a Wuhan tour guide to check in after she returned to Hangzhou from Singapore with one of them calling the police to give her a health check and asking the police to quarantine her. Amidst these incidents, various cities and prefectures outside of Hubei adopted resettlement measures for Hubei people in their region such as designated hotel accommodation for visitors from the province. In Zhengding, Jingxing and Luquan of Shijiazhuang City, the local governments rewarded anyone who reported those who had been to Wuhan, but not recorded in official documents at least 1,000 yuan RMB. In Meizhou, residents reporting people entering from Hunan were awarded with 30 face masks.

It was reported that on a scheduled 27 January China Southern Airlines flight from Nagoya to Shanghai, some Shanghainese travellers refused to board with 16 others from Wuhan. Two of the Wuhan travellers were unable to board due to a fever while the Shanghainese on the spot alleged that the others had taken medicine to bypass the temperature check. One of the Wuhan tourists protested on Weibo, "are they really my countrymen?" which a Shanghai tourist who was purportedly at the scene replied that they did it to protect Shanghai from the virus. Many netizens criticized the Wuhan tourists for travelling with a fever, although some also called for understanding and for Shanghainese not to regionally discriminate. After domestic transmissions of the coronavirus dropped to zero in China last month, the country’s focus switched to containing infections coming in from abroad, leading to a spike in xenophobia online and all foreigners being banned from entering the country, even those with residence permits or visas. This is despite the fact that the vast majority of imported coronavirus cases are Chinese passport holders. As concerns over imported COVID-19 infections grow in China, so have fear and mistrust of foreigners, especially those recently returned from abroad. According to a Guardian article on 29 Mar 2020 ('They see my blue eyes then jump back' – China sees a new wave of xenophobia), Lily Kuo in Shanghai and Helen Davidson report that foreigners have been turned away from restaurants, shops, gyms and hotels, subjected to further screening, yelled at by locals and avoided in public spaces. Experiences range from socially awkward to xenophobic. An American walking with a group of foreigners in a park in Beijing saw a woman grab her child and run the other way. Others have described being called “foreign trash”. “I’m walking past someone, then they see my blue eyes and jump a foot back,” said Andrew Hoban, 33, who is originally from Ireland and lives in Shanghai.

“There is an effect when state media are reporting this is a foreign virus,” said Jeremiah Jenne, an American historian living in Beijing. “It is a new variation of a familiar theme: don’t trust foreigners. If there is another flare-up in China, the blame will fall on people coming from outside.”

But some foreign communities are experiencing more harassment. An African couple in Beijing were made to wait for two hours at a restaurant before a worker let slip that they were not supposed to allow in heiren – “black people”. “The combination of pre-existing attitudes to race and Africans, plus this new wave of fear of foreigners, is making things worse,” said Runako Celina, co-founder of Black Livity China, which documents experiences of Africans and people of African descent in China. “Despite us doing this work steadily throughout the years, I don’t think there’s been a single period of time when we’ve had as many racism [or] discrimination-related incidents from different people and provinces.” Others describe more scrutiny and wariness. American David Alexander, 32, who lives in the southern province of Jiangsu, said his Chinese co-workers had been advised to stay away from foreigners. In a shop last week, a couple waited until he had left before entering. “There is a sense of fear around foreigners,” he said.

Source:'They see my blue eyes then jump back' – China sees a new wave of xenophobia

This recent wave of heightened xenophobia in China has been put into comic strip form with an illustrated handbook on “Foreign Trash Classification” going viral on WeChat. The comic strip combines the trash sorting regulations that some Chinese cities instituted last year with viral stories of foreigners in China breaking epidemic prevention rules that have been reported in Chinese social media recently and fantasizes committing violence against them. This was reported on April 6th 2020 by Jiayun Feng in SupChina: “ the COVID-19 pandemic has taken hostility toward foreigners to an alarming new level. Driven by a string of news stories that put foreigners in a negative light for their irresponsible behavior during the outbreak, Chinese social media has been flooded with hateful and sometimes violent comments targeting the expatriate community. Over the weekend, the intolerance reached a fever pitch with a cartoon created by WeChat blog 锦鲤青年 (Koi Youth jǐnlǐ qīngnián), which sorts foreigners who “seek special treatment and run wild” in China into various categories, and depicts them as trash to be disposed of. Published on April 2, the cartoon was featured in a WeChat post (in Chinese) titled “An illustrated handbook on how to sort foreign trash” (洋垃圾分类图鉴 yáng lājī fènlèi tújiàn). The artwork shows a worker in a full protective suit dealing with “foreign trash” and tossing it in garbage bins for wet, dry, recyclable, and hazardous waste.”

Source:

Sources for Cartoons:

Another cartoon shared on the popular wechat platform by hundreds of thousands of netizens was entitled “Be alert to the second outbreak caused by foreign garbage”, complaining that:

“Many newly confirmed cases in China were imported from abroad. At a time when foreign epidemics are intensifying, our country is still opening foreigners, even giving them super-national treatment. Adults can travel thousands of miles, mountains and seas, free sea view suites.” Cartoon source:

The xenophobic tone of the cartoon echoes scores of recent personal accounts of foreigners being confronted with uncomfortable experiences that include being denied services at local businesses and being called derogatory names in public. On 27th March, Sophia Yan, reporting for the Telegraph in Beijing, said that Foreigners in China are being barred from supermarkets, hotels and public spaces amid suspicion they will re-import the coronavirus epidemic as China bars foreigners from entering the country. Source: Foreigners face discrimination in China over coronavirus fears as visas cancelled for non-Chinese

On Feb 26th 2020, Sushant Shrestha wrote in Times Higher Education that “It has been hard to be here in Shanghai during the Covid-19 outbreak, but I am hopeful. It is difficult to see the narrow-mindedness and racism that has come with the outbreak” Source: “Photo diary: an international student in China during the coronavirus outbreak” On 24th March, In an article by By George Torr in the UK Star newspaper, a Sheffield-trained teacher living in China talked of the discrimination she has faced over the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. She reports Hangzhou locals making racist comments and suggesting she should move to another table in a restaurant. She also reported that security guards refused to let her and her husband into a bar, saying: ‘no entry to outsiders’. She went on to report:

“It was really surprising they weren’t letting us in - all the locals were being let through flashing their green cards which shows you’re safe and we were the only ones who were stopped. We all showed our green passes but they wouldn’t even look at it and they screamed at us that we couldn’t go. It was just pure xenophobia. It was disappointing because the Chinese are quite vocal against xenophobia and racism and mention that in the West and other parts of Asia they are being treated poorly.”

Source: Chesterfield teacher faces xenophobia in China over coronavirus On 30th March 2020, CJ Werleman writing in the bylinetimes, claims that China capitalises on Covid-19 by blaming foreigners, reporting that:

“ Immigrants are being targeted offline with a large number of hotels now reportedly refusing foreign guests, while some expatriates have been denied access to their own apartments by buildings’ security personnel. There are also widespread reports that a great number of restaurants in Beijing and Shanghai are now displaying signs forbidding foreigners” 

James Palmer, a long-time resident of China and columnist for Foreign Policy, observed that:

“As Chinese officials blame the outside world for the Coronavirus, this treatment is likely to only get worse – and residing in the country is likely to become more difficult” 

Source: THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS China Capitalises on COVID-19 By Blaming Foreigners CNN’s James Griffiths reported on March 27th 2020 that businesses in China are now banning foreign nationals from entering their premises. He claims that accounts have even emerged of housing estates and office complexes barring non-Chinese from the premises. One instance was reported by Elizabeth Rodewald, an American working in Beijing, who said she was stopped by her security guard from entering her own home this week. She said the guard asked if she was Russian and refused to let her pass even after she showed her residential ID card, even though Chinese residents continued to enter freely. She said she had to wait for the manager to arrive before she could go in. Also, at a Beijing gym popular with expats, managers posted a sign saying "foreign friends" would no longer be allowed to enter, "because of (the) overseas epidemic threshold." Griffiths also claims that CNN saw doormen at a bar in Sanlitun, a popular Beijing nightlife area, refusing entry to non-Chinese-looking patrons.

Source: As coronavirus cases spike worldwide, China is closing itself off David Kirton and Engen Tham reporting for Reuters from Shenzhen and Shanghai listed incidents of xenophobia and racism towards foreigners in China, claiming that suspicion is falling on foreigners, including the many expatriates after China announced a bar on the entry of all foreigners, including those with residence permits. The Reuters article reports that expatriates in China are now complaining of unfair treatment, according to Kyle Hadfield, who runs expatrights.org, a platform for foreigners:

“It’s people being denied access to gyms, supermarkets, spas etc. Avoided in public, treated like a virus. Several expats said they had been turned away from offices, shopping centers, and even soccer pitches”

While rules on mask wearing have been relaxed in Shanghai, foreigners in some compounds are being asked to keep theirs on. “They came and knocked on my door and told me to wear a mask,” said a South African in Shanghai who declined to be identified. “No one else in the compound is wearing one.” African-American teacher Brianna Garcia, who said she was no stranger to anti-foreigner sentiment before the coronavirus, said she felt it had made things worse. Now people avoid her on the subway, she said. With much of the lockdown lifted in Shenzhen, American Rachel Walters and her Brazilian housemate looked for a new apartment but several communities refused to let her view flats. Guards at one compound demanded to see her passport, health check and proof that she had been in the country, she said - requirements that have become common for both foreigners and Chinese citizens during the outbreak. “After seeing all of that they just said, ‘no, no foreigners inside, we won’t accept foreigners’,” she said.

Source: Foreigners face suspicion in China as coronavirus worsens overseas

Ryan Gandolfo in an article published on thatsmags.com on March 27, 2020, “Turbulent Times for Foreigners in China as COVID-19 Spikes Overseas” said that he had been in touch with foreign nationals that have experienced xenophobia first-hand, including an Australian national named Ben who was recently refused entry into his local gym in Guangzhou because of new rules from the facility’s property management: “The person [at] the door was polite to me. I was told that foreigners were not permitted to enter the gym due to the virus situation. I insisted that I’ve been in Guangzhou since before the outbreak began and that I can use the SuiKang app to show my green status. He told me it’s due to the building management’s policy,” Ben tells us, adding that he’s been a regular member at the gym for around two years.” Another Guangzhou resident and business owner, Mahesh, is a member at the same gym and paid a visit on Friday, March 27. “They said temporarily foreigners are not allowed,” Mahesh tells That’s. When he responded that he’d like to file a complaint, staff told him “you do what you have to do, there’s no way we can allow foreigners at the moment,” before adding that he was “breaking the law.” The temporary ban on foreign nationals extends beyond fitness centers. In mid-March, a coach station in Zhuhai refused to sell a bus ticket to a British man named Tom due to his nationality. After handing his passport to the staff member at the bus station, she said that “the company isn’t selling tickets to people from the UK.” Despite the fact that Tom had traveled to Zhuhai via the same bus company three days prior, the staffer maintained that “the company policy is that they aren't allowing UK citizens to buy tickets.” Additionally, residents in Shenzhen have said that Huaqiangbei market, a well-known shopping destination for electronics and other gadgets in Futian district, recently barred foreigners from entering. FeelMore Coffee&Bagels, a Guangzhou eatery popular among expats and locals alike, recently sent out a notice on WeChat informing customers that foreign nationals would not be allowed to enter the community where the shop is located. A staff member told us over the phone that the community’s property management were temporarily barring foreigners from entering in light of the coronavirus situation outside of China. On Thursday, the shop wrote to us via WeChat, saying “We are currently working closely with the community management and security team attempting to establish some grounds for them to allow foreigners to enter.” Source: “Turbulent Times for Foreigners in China as COVID-19 Spikes Overseas”

These reports of xenophobia and racism towards foreigners was exemplified by the experience of New York Times’ Paul Mozur on March 24th 2020, who revealed that on his final reporting trip in China, he and his colleague were eating in a popular restaurant when a man walked up to them and screamed:

“You foreign trash. Foreign trash! What are you doing in my country? And you, with him, you bitch.” Mozure thought that he wanted to fight, but stayed silent and let him rant, later adding that: “the xenophobia in China is getting worse by the day. Was told good naturedly by my building guard just now that he's afraid of foreigners. But already have several more confrontational anecdotes from friends here over the past few days”

Source:@Paulmozur

Recent incidents of extreme racism towards the African community are highlighted in an official Protest Letter of African Ambassadors in Beijing published on April 13th 2020 by frontpageafricaonline, in which they: “strongly protest the ongoing forceful testing and quarantine and maltreatment of African Nationals in China in general and in Guangdong Province in particular” The African Ambassadors reported that they had received disquieting reports of inhuman treatments meted out to Africans particularly in Guangdong Province and enumerate some of them, as follows: ● African nationals ejected including Togolese, Nigerians, and Benenois from their hotels in the middle of the night only because they are Africans; ● A group of African students studying in Sun-Yat Sen University in Guangzhou were made to undergo the Nucleic Acid Test, in spite of the fact that they had no travel history within the stated period. ● Selective testing of African students while their non African colleagues are left out. ● There were cases of African men married to Chinese ladies and they were demanded to take the COVID-19 test and their Chinese families left out. In some cases the men were pulled out of their families and quarantined in hotels alone. ● Forced evictions of Africans from their various apartments and thrown into the streets even those with infant children. ● Seizure of passports of African nationals in violation of international practices and conventions ● Persistent harassment and humiliation of African nationals by subjecting them to unwarranted medical examinations after testing negative for the COVID-19, and forced into quarantine, irrespective of their negative status; ● Threats of revocation of visas, arrest, detention and deportation of African legal migrants for no cogent reason which infringes on their human rights” Source:

Xenophobia towards foreigners has also been reported in other media. In April 2020, several reports emerged in Guangzhou of African nationals being evicted from their homes by local police and told to leave, with no place to sleep, due to recent negative Chinese media reports of Nigerians in the city. In response, several African governments have voiced concerns to Beijing about their citizens being mistreated. The US Consulate General in Guangzhou has advised African Americans against traveling to Guangzhou due to ethnic tensions.

Reports of discrimination against Africans in Guangzhou created controversy in Africa damaging Sino-African relations. Some Chinese diplomats claimed that incidents were the result of misunderstandings caused by insufficient communication, and reiterated their opposition against all forms of discrimination; Assistant Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong told the African ambassadors he would ease "health management" measures. The racist and xenophobic incidents created a diplomatic crisis with African governments and diplomats speaking out strongly against the incidents in Guangzhou. The Nigerian legislator Oloye Akin Alabi posted a video of his confronting the PRC's ambassador Zhou Pingjian over the alleged mistreatment of Nigerians in Guangzhou. The governments of Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda have also asked for explanations from the PRC government, and the African Union Commission invited the PRC ambassador to the African Union to discuss the mistreatment allegations.

Hong Kong

More than 100 restaurants in Hong Kong have turned away customers from mainland China, with one restaurant demanding that a customer produce a Hong Kong identity card to prove they were not from the mainland. Tenno Ramen, a Japanese noodle restaurant in Hung Hom, refused to serve mainland Chinese customers. The restaurant said on Facebook, "We want to live longer. We want to safeguard local customers. Please excuse us." Another example is Kwong Wing Catering, a pro-2019–20 Hong Kong protests restaurant chain, which announced on Facebook on 28 January 2020 that it would only serve English or Cantonese-speaking but not Mandarin-speaking customers since the government did not implement a border closure against mainland Chinese. However, Mandarin is also the common tongue in Taiwan, so the said Facebook post was then updated a day later to clarify that they welcome Taiwanese customers.

Indonesia

The Foreign Policy reported that "On social media, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram posts encourage people to stay away from places where Chinese citizens or Chinese-heritage Indonesians work and live. ... Major media outlets are also complicit in spreading anti-Chinese conspiracies."

A demonstration was staged outside a hotel in Bukittinggi, rejecting the visit of tourists from Southern China who stayed there amid fear of coronavirus. The demonstrators demanded that the tourists be isolated in an airport, and showed distrust over screening tools in airports. It ended after police guaranteed that the tourists would stay in the hotel up to the following day, when the tourists depart from the city.

In a press release, the embassy of Japan in Indonesia stated that incidents of discrimination and harassment toward Japanese people had increased in the midst of the pandemic, and announced they had set up a help center to assist Japanese residents dealing with these incidents. In general, there have been reports of widespread anti-Japanese discrimination and harassment in the country, with hotels, stores, restaurants, taxi services and more refusing Japanese customers, and many Japanese people were no longer allowed in meetings and conferences. The embassy of Japan has also received at least a dozen reports of harassment toward Japanese people in just a few days. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan) stated that anti-Japanese discrimination was on the increase in the country.

India

Indian Islamic cleric Ilyas Sharafuddin said in an audio address that the coronavirus outbreak was a "punishment of Allah on China for mistreating Uighur Muslims". Ilyas said that "they [the Chinese] have threatened the Muslims and tried to destroy lives of 20 million Muslims. Muslims were forced to drink alcohol, their mosques were destroyed and their Holy Book was burned. They thought that no one can challenge them, but Allah the most powerful punished them." He added that "Romans, Persians, and Russians who were arrogant and stood against Islam," were all destroyed by Allah.

Anti-Chinese conspiracy theories as well as racist comments mocking the eating habits of Chinese people are reported to be spreading on Indian social media.

Students from Northeast India, which shares a border with Tibet, who study in major Indian cities have reportedly experienced harassment related to the coronavirus outbreak. For instance, Northeast Indian students in Kirori Mal College, Delhi, have filed a complaint to college authorities about harassment in the hands of other students. Eight students from Northeast India at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai also alleged that they were subjected to racism and harassment.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's State unit president in West Bengal Dilip Ghosh stated that the Chinese had "destroyed nature" and "that's why the God took revenge against them." The remarks were later condemned by the Chinese consulate in Kolkata, calling them "erroneous."

In March 2020, foreigners from Europe, US and Israel started facing xenophobia and discrimination, including evictions from rented homes.

Muslim gatherings organised by the Tablighi Jamaat has resulted in large increased of cases in India, which has triggered Islamophobic reactions and increased communal tension. Islamophobic hashtags began circulating shortly after the news broke in late March. Videos falsely claiming to show members of the missionary group spitting on police and others quickly went viral on social media. A tribal boy in Jharkhand was killed over a clash over such rumours.

Some doctors and medical workers were evicted from their homes over fears they may be carrying coronavirus. In cases reported across the country, healthcare professionals described the growing stigma they are facing from their neighbours and landlords, resulting in many being refused taxis, barricaded from their own homes, or made homeless.

Some patients, in different quarantine facilities of Uttar Pradesh, refused to eat food because the cooks in these facilities were Dalits.

Residents of a village named Korauna in Sitapur district in Uttar Pradesh faced discrimination due to similarity in name of the village with the virus.

Iran

The Iranian government has blamed the country's outbreak on the “Zionists.” The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran has claimed Israel for releasing the virus as a form of biological warfare. These claims were seen by many, including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), as being anti-semititic.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan), Japanese people have been denied entry to restaurants and experienced increased abuse since the pandemic.

Israel

More than 1,000 South Korean tourists were instructed to avoid public places and remain in isolation in their hotels. The Israeli military announced its intention to quarantine some 200 South Korean nationals to a military base. Many of the remaining South Koreans were rejected by hotels and were forced to spend nights at Ben Gurion Airport. An Israeli newspaper subsequently published a Korean complaint that "Israel is Treating [Korean and other Asian] Tourists Like Coronavirus". Public health expert Dr. Hagai Levine said that Israeli politicians may be overreaching to impress voters.

On 14 March 2020, an Indian man from the Bnei Menashe community was attacked and beaten by several unidentified individuals in Tiberias who called him "Chinese" and "Corona". The man was hospitalized at the Baruch Padeh Medical Center in Tiberas.

Japan

In Japan, the hashtag #ChineseDontComeToJapan had been trending on Twitter; furthermore, on Twitter, Japanese people have called Chinese tourists "dirty", "insensitive", and "bioterrorists".

A server at a restaurant in Ito, a Japanese city on the Izu Peninsula south of Tokyo, was recorded shouting at a tourist "China! Out!" A Chinese woman, who was the target of the outburst, immediately left the restaurant.

A confectionery shop in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture put up a sign saying "No Chinese allowed!" prompting Chinese citizens to boycott the store.

According to an Ipsos MORI poll, 28% of Japanese respondents said they would consider avoiding people of Chinese origin in the future to protect themselves from coronavirus.

Jordan

In March 2020, a Korean working in Jordan since 2014 reported to the police that he was beaten and mocked due to his Asian appearance. In another incident, a Jordanian of Korean mother was refused to take a taxi, for the same reason.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan), there have been incidents of Japanese people being chased by locals since the pandemic.

Kazakhstan

In February 2020, a conflict broke out between ethnic Kazakhs and Chinese Muslims. According to The Diplomat, "In the hours following the incident, fake news about "ruthless pogroms in Kazakhstan around the spreading of coronavirus" circulated around social media, fueling hysteria in other parts of the country."

Malaysia

A petition in Malaysia calling for citizens from China to be banned from entering the country claimed that the "new virus is widely spread throughout the world because of their unhygienic lifestyle". The petition was reportedly signed by a little over 250,000 people within a week.

Palestine

On 1 March 2020, a Palestinian mother with her daughter chanted "Corona, corona" to the two Japanese women who were in Ramallah for non-governmental aid mission. The mother then attacked and pulled the hair of one of the Japanese women who attempted to record the incident. According to the Embassy of Japan there have been at least another 10 reports of anti-Japanese incidents related to the pandemic, as of early March.

Philippines

Various Filipino-Chinese advocacy groups have warned that racism against the Chinese community has risen after the outbreak has started. The Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc and the Trade Union of Congress of the Philippines have condemned anti-Chinese propaganda with links to the virus. Adamson University, a prominent Catholic school in Manila, received online backlash for ordering all its Chinese students to quarantine themselves amid the new coronavirus outbreak. A crematorium refused to handle the corpse of a Chinese national who died from the virus.

President Rodrigo Duterte has made appeals to the public to stop discriminating against anyone who has Chinese ancestry.

Saudi Arabia

Images of a South Asian migrant worker who was dressed as a human hand sanitiser while wearing a face mask for Saudi Aramco went viral online and sparked global outrage and was cited as another example of "coronavirus racism". The company later apologised for the incident.

Singapore

An online petition urging the Singaporean government to ban Chinese nationals and travellers from China from entering the island country was signed by 125,000 people.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has ordered an investigation against an Islamic teacher, Abdul Halim bin Abdul Karim, after he had posted on Facebook that the coronavirus pandemic was "a retribution by Allah against the Chinese for their oppressive treatment of Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang." In a separate post, Abdul Halim claimed that Chinese people do not wash properly after defecating and were not as hygienic as Muslims, causing the virus to spread. Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam slammed the comments as "silly", "xenophobic" and "thoroughly racist" and is "quite unacceptable from anyone, let alone someone who is supposed to be a religious teacher." The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore said it is aware of the post, which "expresses views that do not represent the Muslim community" and was investigating the matter. In response, Abdul Halim said that his Facebook post written in Malay, was not intended to be racist and did not target "any particular race".

South Korea

In February 2020, an entrance to a South Korean restaurant in downtown Seoul reportedly had a sign in red Chinese characters stating: "No Chinese Allowed". "No Chinese" signs have been cropping up throughout the country, and some businesses are banning all foreigners.

More than 760,000 South Korean citizens have signed a petition lobbying the government to ban Chinese tourists from entering the country. The Daegu Lantern Festival posted a notice in English that no foreigners are allowed to visit their festival.

Sri Lanka

A group of Singaporean tourists were reportedly denied permission to climb the tourist attraction Ella Rock due to their appearance.

Thailand

A restaurant in Chiang Mai displayed a sign which read, "We apologize we are not accepting CHINESE customers. Thank you." after a customer left the restaurant upon noticing a group of Chinese people inside. The police demanded that the sign be taken down, but suggested that it could be rewritten in Chinese as "We ran out of food". A similar sign was seen outside a restaurant in Ao Sane Beach in Phuket.

Graffiti artist Headache Stencil reportedly tweeted, "Hey Chink! Please go back to ur shit-eating country. Our government need ur money to keep their power but you all not welcome for us now. #notwelcometothailand #backtourchinklandpls".

Health minister Anutin Charnvirakul made negative comments about "dirty" Westerners, saying they "never shower" and are more likely to spread the virus than Asians.

Vietnam

Asia Times reported that "A number of Vietnamese hotels and guesthouses have reportedly hung signs on their doors saying that Chinese guests are not welcome, while many Vietnamese have gone online to demand the closure of all border crossings with China." Signs suggesting that Chinese customers are not accepted were seen in front of a shop in Phu Quoc and a restaurant in Da Nang.

Australia & Oceania

Australia

On 26 January 2020, two of Australia's highest circulating newspapers published provocative headlines. Melbourne's Herald Sun's headline read, "Chinese virus pandamonium", a misspelling of "pandemonium" and alluding to China's native pandas, while Sydney's Daily Telegraph's headline read "China kids stay home". One of the outcomes of these headlines was a petition of over 51,000 signatures demanding an apology.

At a Woolworths supermarket in Port Hedland, Western Australia, a person reported an incident whereby a staff member removed and refused entry to customers who appeared to be of Asian descent, claiming it was to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. A witness to the incident made a complaint that was upheld by Woolworths who confirmed that the staff member had been in the wrong, apologised for the incident and said they were conducting a full investigation into the incident.

Ravenswood School for Girls, a private school on Sydney's North Shore asked a South Korean student to leave her dormitory – even though she had not been to China since visiting Shanghai in October 2019 and was medically cleared when she arrived at the school. Similarly, a Chinese-Malaysian student in Perth found herself evicted from her shared home upon returning to Australia after visiting her home country for Lunar New Year.

There has been a growing number of reports where members of the Chinese-Australian and Asian-Australian communities have been subjected to verbal vitriol and racist slurs, in addition to suggestions on social media to cull the Chinese race and "burn down" China to stop the epidemic. On 20 March 2020, a student wearing a mask in Hobart, Tasmania was told, "you've got the virus" and "go back to your country" before being punched leaving him with a bruised eye and broken glasses. The reason for the attack was partly attributed to the cultural differences in wearing masks in Eastern and Western cultures.

Chinese restaurants and establishments in Sydney and Melbourne have seen a dramatic drop in business, with trade declining by over 70%.

On 28 January 2020, a man collapsed and died of a suspected cardiac arrest outside of a restaurant in Sydney's Chinatown. Unconfirmed viral videos circulating on social media suggest that bystanders refused to perform CPR out of fear of the novel coronavirus.

According to an online Ipsos MORI poll, 23% of Australian respondents would consider in the future avoiding people of Chinese origin to protect themselves from coronavirus.

New Zealand

MP Raymond Huo stated that there were racial abuse incidents in the country's Chinese community. An online petition to prevent people from China from entering the country was signed by more than 18,000 people. In Canterbury, an email was sent to a Chinese-origin student's parent, which reportedly said, "our Kiwi kids don't want to be in the same class with your disgusting virus spreaders."

Mayor of Auckland Phil Goff stated that he was "sickened" by the reports of Asian-origin people being racially targeted at swimming pools, public transport and restaurants.

Europe

Belgium

There have been reports by Asian people of increased racism in Belgium.

A woman was called "coronavirus", threatened, and spat on by five youths in Schaerbeek.

A photograph depicting high school students in Chinese costumes while holding a sign that said "Corona Time" was posted on the official Facebook and Instagram of Sint-Paulusschool Campus College Waregem, a secondary school, in March 2020. One of the students added latex gloves and a medical mask to his attire in reference to the outbreak, while another student stretched her eyes in a racist gesture. The photograph was removed after online backlash. The school released a statement, claiming that the school team and the last-grade students had no intention to be condescending or offensive. However, the activist Instagram that reposted the racist image stated that, "As an educational institution, you have a very large influence on the future generation. The fact that you approve of this kind of behaviour and promote it yourself on your channels is far from responsible and shows that something is wrong with you."

In Brussels, a 22-year-old man punched a 24-year-old Asian man and accused him of being "the cause" of coronavirus in Belgium.

Croatia

On 15 February 2020, during a Croatian Table Tennis Superleague match which was played in Dubrovnik between the local team Libertas Marinkolora and guest team STK Starr from Varaždin, a number of insulting comments were posted on the official Libertas Marinkolora Facebook page towards a Croatian player of Chinese origin, Tan Ruiwu of STK Starr which referenced the coronavirus. This included a comment by the manager of Libertas Marinkolor Marko Habijanec in which he instructed one of his players (who was facing Tan in the next match) to "Beat this virus." The comments were subsequently deleted. Libertas Marinkolor eventually issued an apology and condemnation of the incident.

Finland

Asians in Finland have reported instances of discrimination prompted by the novel coronavirus outbreak in China. Various people with backgrounds in China, Vietnam, and Japan told Yle that they feel to have been subjected to racist treatment since news broke about the virus. On 23 February, Helsinki Times reported that at least one Chinese restaurant in Helsinki had seen a downturn in bookings since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak. A Chinese supermarket reported a dramatic drop in people coming into the store but an uptick in online sales, with customers opting to have goods delivered to their homes.

France

French newspaper Le Courrier Picard featured an Asian woman wearing a mask on its front page on 26 January 2020 with a headline "Yellow Alert". The paper also titled an editorial "A New Yellow Peril". The publication drew condemnation from French Asians who started the hashtag #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus (which translates to "I Am Not A Virus"). Other French newspapers called the Covid-19 as "Chinese Virus" at the beginning of the outbreak which could stigmatise people of Chinese descent. Numerous reports indicate a significant increase in harassment and violent attacks toward people of certain Asian origins. Some children of Asian descent were ostracised and mocked over their origins in middle schools near Paris.

Non-Western restaurants, including Chinese, Thai, Cambodian, and Japanese have reported a decline in customers. The scale of the decline typically ranged from 30 to 50 percent.

Many French-Vietnamese report also being subject to harassment since the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan.

South Korean media have reported an increased animosity toward South Korean nationals.

Japan's public service broadcaster NHK, which provides a list of overseas safety risks for traveling, recently listed anti-Japanese discrimination as a safety risk when traveling to France and other European countries. Some Japanese nationals have reported an increase in anti-Japanese incidents, such as being mocked on the street and refused taxi service, and least one Japanese restaurant has been vandalized. A Japanese actress working for the French company Louis Vuitton received a number of coronavirus-related comments on the company's Instagram page, which the company later deleted. A group of Japanese students on a study tour in Paris received abuse by locals.

Asians in Paris have reported an increase in racism and harassment.

Germany

Numerous racial incidences and discrimination against those of Asian descent in Germany have been reported by news media.

The weekly magazine Der Spiegel has published a controversial cover which has been considered by some as blaming China for the outbreak and fueling xenophobia.

The Chinese Embassy in Berlin has acknowledged a rise in hostile cases against its citizens since the outbreak. On 1 February 2020, a 23-year old Chinese citizen in Berlin reportedly received racist insults and was subsequently beaten by two unknown assailants, in an incident classified by police as "xenophobic".

A Chinese student from Chengdu living in Berlin was given two weeks notice to leave her sublet apartment by her landlord, German actress Gabrielle Scharnitzky. Scharnitzky defended her actions, stating "I had to protect myself against a real possible danger of infection by a person returning from a virus-contaminated area, entering and leaving my home and thus endangering my health and the health of my visitors". The student reportedly informed Scharnitzky of her intentions to visit China in January; although the trip never took place, she was nevertheless evicted.

On 5 February 2020, a Chinese woman in Berlin, who had not visited China in three months, was reportedly turned away by her gynecologist, claiming that the coronavirus may infect pregnant women in the clinic. In the same month, a Chinese student in Essen with a sore throat was denied an appointment by a general practitioner over coronavirus fears, despite not having been to China since September 2019. She was instead told to go the emergency room, where she was diagnosed with bronchitis.

In Munich, a German woman of Chinese descent was assaulted by a neighbor, who sprayed her with disinfectant, screamed "Corona" at her and threatened to cut her head off. The man is facing charges of assault and threat; the state protection department is investigating a possible racist motive for the crime.

German football club RB Leipzig denied entry to a group of 20 Japanese fans over coronavirus fears. In Nuremberg, locals threw raw eggs at homes owned by Japanese residents. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan), anti-Japanese discrimination has been rising in Germany.

The embassy of South Korea in Germany warned its citizens of rising anti-Korean violence.

According to an Ipsos MORI poll in early February, 28% of German respondents would consider avoiding people of Chinese origin in the future to protect themselves from the coronavirus.

Hungary

Chinese-owned businesses, including those in the predominantly Asian Józsefváros Market in Budapest, have reported a significant drop in sales, which owners have attributed to the coronavirus. Some businesses have opted to signal to potential customers that they are from another Asian country.

Italy

La Repubblica reported that the director of Rome's prestigious Santa Cecilia music conservatory, Roberto Giuliani, suspended lessons for all Asian students—Korean, Chinese, Japanese, with Koreans the largest group affected—due to the epidemic, though most of the students were second-generation immigrants.

According to The Washington Post, people especially from South Korea and China experienced increased mockery and discrimination.

It was posted on social media that a bar around the Trevi Fountain had a sign not allowing entrance to anyone from China because of "international safety measures". It was later removed by police.

Dozens of Chinese stores were vandalized in the northern towns of Como, Brescia, and Varese. Many Chinese stores reported a decline in business.

People of Chinese and Filipino descents reported assaults (some serious enough to require hospitalization), harassment, and being refused services. Some public officials asked students of Asian origin to stay home.

On 24 February 2020, a Chinese man was barred from entering a gas station in Cassola in Vicenza, Veneto and was told "You have coronavirus, you cannot enter!" at which point somebody broke a bottle on his head causing severe injuries. The same day, an elderly Filipino pensioner was attacked and punched in a supermarket in the town of Mariano Comense, in Como, Lombardy. Singer and TV personality Francesco Facchinetti was seen intervening and defending the victim.

Veneto regional governor Luca Zaia apologized after claiming that the Chinese eat live mice.

On 8 March 2020, a Japanese restaurant in Rivoli, in Torino, Piedmont was the target of an arson attack by a group of teens who taunted the owners, calling them carriers of the epidemic.

Netherlands

Dutch public broadcasting news network NOS has reported that on many of its Facebook and Instagram posts about the coronavirus, there have been a great number of "racist, discriminating and anti-Chinese comments". Dutch residents of Asian descent report having been called out as carriers of the coronavirus during their commute, in the supermarket, in school, and on social media.

On 6 February 2020, radio DJ Lex Gaarthuis presented his Carnaval song "Voorkomen is beter dan Chinezen" (a pun on the proverb Voorkomen is beter dan genezen – "prevention is better than cure" – with Chinezen referring to both Chinese people and eating Chinese food) on national radio station Radio 10 under his alter ego Toon, which includes the lyrics "we can't have the virus in our country, it is all caused by these stinking Chinese people" and "don't eat Chinese food." After many complaints were issued against Radio 10 and Gaarthuis, primarily by the Chinese community in the Netherlands, both the station and artist made formal apologies, with Gaarthuis saying the song was meant to be satirical but had overshot its mark.

On 8 February 2020, a group of Chinese students living in a student dormitory of Wageningen University discovered that their floor had been vandalised. Damages included a Chinese flag torn from a student's door and shredded, an elevator littered with feces and urine, and walls defaced with English language insults such as "Die, Chinese" and "Chinese Corona". Dutch police investigated the incident, but no suspects have been identified.

On 10 February 2020, a 65-year-old Dutch man of Chinese descent was kicked off his bicycle in Amsterdam by two young men on a scooter. One of the culprits filmed the incident and uploaded it to his Snapchat story. He later downplayed criticism saying "don't you worry guys, it was a Chinese man" and only turned himself in to police after becoming the target of widespread Internet vigilantism.

On a KLM flight from Amsterdam to Seoul on 11 February 2020, flight attendants put up a sign in Korean discouraging passengers from using a restroom on the plane allegedly reserved for the flight crew, apparently out of fear of the coronavirus. A spokesman for the airline has since issued an apology, stating "we are deeply sorry that this was viewed as discrimination, which was absolutely not the intention of the crew" and that it is not company policy to reserve specific lavatories for flight crew. Many Koreans and Dutch people of Korean descent have reported a spate of anti-Korean incidents, from vandalism of their homes to violent assaults and harassment, and more than 150 Korean expat respondents in an online survey indicated they had experienced a xenophobic incident.

On the evening of 22 February 2020, a 24-year-old Dutch student of Chinese descent was assaulted by a group of students in her dormitory in Tilburg, suffering a concussion and knife wounds, after she asked them to stop singing Gaarthuis' Carnaval song.

In late February 2020, the Japanese School of Amsterdam cautioned parents not to bring their children to playgrounds and other places frequented by local children, amidst a spate of violent bullying incidents targeting Japanese children.

On 16 March 2020, a residence in Diemen was smeared with words reading "Kankerchinees corona" ("cancerous Chinese corona" in English), which was publicly denounced by Mayor Erik Boog.

Russia

In Moscow and Yekaterinburg, Chinese nationals are targeted by quarantine enforcing campaigns, as well as police raids, which were condemned as racial profiling.

In Blagoveshchensk, at least one hotel has barred Chinese nationals from booking rooms, and markets operated by people of Chinese origin have seen their sales plummeting.

According to an Ipsos MORI poll, 37% of Russian respondents would consider avoiding people of Chinese origin, the highest of the eight countries surveyed.

Ukraine

On 20 February 2020, 45 Ukrainians and 27 foreign nationals evacuated from Wuhan to Novi Sanzhary were met by a mob lighting bonfires and hurling stones.

United Kingdom

On 12 February 2020, Sky News reported that some Chinese people in the United Kingdom said they were facing increasing levels of racist abuse.

Chinese businesses in the United Kingdom, including the busy Chinese takeaway segment and businesses in Chinatown, London recorded significantly reduced customers in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak compared to usual elevated sales related to Chinese New Year celebrations, due to fears of coronavirus spreading through food or unhygienic working practices. In London, a student of the Royal Holloway University was verbally abused by train passengers at Clapham Junction station, while a similar incident was reported by passengers on the London Underground.

On 30 January 2020, a postgraduate student walking alone while wearing a face mask on West Street in Sheffield city centre, towards the University of Sheffield, was verbally abused and nudged by three people.

Tottenham Hotspur footballer Dele Alli posted a video on Snapchat where he wore a face mask and appeared to mock an Asian man seated near him in Dubai about the coronavirus outbreak. He later apologised and deleted the video.

A 24-year old Thai tax consultant in London was violently assaulted and robbed by two teenagers yelling "coronavirus" at the man.

In Solihull, a woman of Chinese origin was allegedly called "a dirty Chink" and told "Take your fucking coronavirus back home!". A woman of Indian origin who tried to intervene was beaten up and later hospitalised.

On 2 March 2020, a Singaporean Chinese student studying at University College London was beaten up when walking past a group of young people who shouted "I don't want your coronavirus in my country" to him in Oxford Street, London. He suffered fractures on his face and bruises on his eye. The Metropolitan Police in London are investigating this assault. Two teenagers have been arrested in relation to the incident.

In Exeter, as of 6 March 2020 there had been 6 separate racially-motivated physical assaults against Asian people, including 3 assaults against Chinese teenagers reported in a 24-hour period.

A Vietnamese art curator was dropped as an assistant for an exhibit of contemporary Vietnamese fine art at the Affordable Art Fair. The dealer in charge of the exhibit explained in an email that she could no longer participate because "Asians are being seen as carriers of the virus" and that the presence of a Vietnamese curator "would unfortunately create hesitation on the part of the audience to enter the exhibition space."

An NHS nurse of Asian descent stated she was assaulted and racially abused by a couple at a train station during her commute for a nightshift at a hospital.

North America

Canada

On 26 January 2020, Peter Akman, a reporter who was with CTV News, tweeted an image of his Asian barber in a mask and said, "Hopefully all I got today was a haircut." He was fired after the tweet was reported.

Chinese-Canadian businesses in Vancouver have reported a drop in business ranging from 50 to 70 percent. In the Greater Toronto Area, Chinese restaurants have reported a drop in sales ranging from 30 to 80 percent.

On 28 January 2020, 9,000 parents of a school district in the York Region, just north of Toronto signed a petition calling on the York Region District School Board to keep students whose family have visited China home from school for 17 days, and that schools keep track of these students' travels and inform other parents so they could decide whether to pull their kids out of class. The York Region School Board rejected the petition, stating that it could potentially stoke racism.

On 29 January 2020, Theresa Tam, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada and head of the Public Health Agency of Canada, expressed her concern. Tam, who is originally from Hong Kong, tweeted that "I am concerned about the growing number of reports of racism and stigmatizing comments on social media directed to people of Chinese and Asian descent related to 2019-nCoV coronavirus."

In April 2020, a University of Waterloo professor posted anti-Chinese messages on his personal Facebook account, for which he later apologized.

In Montreal, vandals targeted Vietnamese Buddhist temples by smashing statues and religious artifacts.

On 17 March 2020, two Korean men were stabbed in Montreal, prompting the Korean Consulate to issue a warning to those of Korean heritage in the city to be cautious and report any incidents to the consulate.

United States

There were more than 1,000 incidences of xenophobia and racism against Asian Americans between January 28 and February 24, 2020, according to a tally compiled by Russell Jeung, professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University.

An online reporting forum called "Stop AAPI Hate" recorded "650 direct reports of discrimination against primarily Asian Americans" between March 18 and 26, 2020.

The University of California, Berkeley's University Health Services posted an infographic on common reactions to the novel coronavirus epidemic that said "Xenophobia: fears about interacting with those who might be from Asia and guilt about these feelings" is normal. The university was criticized for "normalizing racism".

Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang spoke of an uptick in anti-Asian racism surrounding the coronavirus. Several lawmakers, including members of Congress, denounced xenophobia related to the coronavirus in a press conference. They said Asian-American businesses across the country—from grocery stores to nail salons and restaurants—had been forced into financial crises due to a reduction in customers. Additionally, Asian-American businesses have reported coronavirus-related harassment and acts of vandalism.

U.S. President Donald Trump frequently referred to the coronavirus as the "Chinese Virus", a term considered to be anti-Chinese and racist. He later argued this was "not racist at all" after lawmakers including Elizabeth Warren raised objections about the statement. CNN commentators Chris Cuomo and Jim Acosta also criticized the use of the term "Wuhan Virus" and "Chinese Virus", although other CNN anchors had used those terms in the past. Trump also brushed off the alleged use of the derogatory term "Kung Flu" by a White House official to refer to COVID-19 when asked by a reporter during a media session on 18 March 2020.

On 23 March 2020, the FBI's New York office issued an alert reporting that far-right extremists are encouraging one another to intentionally spread the coronavirus to police officers and members of the Jewish community if they contracted it. The next day, the Department of Homeland Security released a memo to law enforcement officials warning of the possibility of violent extremists taking advantage of the pandemic to commit terrorist attacks. The memo cites calls by far-right extremists to commit attacks on Asian-Americans and other targets, as well as spread the virus in diverse neighborhoods and places of worship.

Restaurants in Chinatown in Boston have also lost customers due to fears of coronavirus. The government of New York City cited a report which estimated a 40 percent sales drop for Chinese businesses in Flushing, Queens, while other reports suggested the drop ranged from 30 to 80 percent.

Koreans in the U.S. hesitated to wear masks in public amid reports of hate crimes and racism towards Asians who wore masks.

At White House press conference on April 10, 2020, Surgeon General Jerome Adams claimed that people of color were "socially predisposed" to coronavirus exposure. He was also criticized for calling on minority communities to abstain from drugs and alcohol with condescending language: "Do it for your abuela. Do it for your granddaddy, do it for your Big Mama, do it for your pop-pop." Even his defenders criticized his public statement for not holding root-cause argument front and center.

Northwest States

In Seattle and elsewhere in Washington State, a rise in anti-Asian racism has been blamed on coronavirus.

California

In Los Angeles, a Thai-American woman on the Los Angeles subway captured footage of a man screaming racist comments and expletives about coronavirus. On 13 February 2020, Los Angeles authorities spoke out against a number of bullying incidents and assaults against the Asian-American community, including a middle-schooler being beaten and hospitalized. A 16-year-old boy in San Fernando Valley was physically attacked by bullies in his high school who accused him of having the coronavirus because he is Asian-American. Robin Toma of the L.A. County Human Relations Commission stated, "Many may be quick to assume that just because someone is Asian or from China that somehow they are more likely to be carriers of the virus. We need to speak out against this when we see it. We need to speak up, not be bystanders, be upstanders." Other forms of harassment in Los Angeles included fake World Health Organization (WHO) flyers advising people to avoid Asian-American restaurants. In San Francisco, a Chinese woman crossing a street was spat upon by a man yelling, "Fuck China", and "run them all over" as a bus crossed in her direction.

40,000 people signed a petition to expel two students from Bolsa Grande High School after they were seen in videos bullying Vietnamese-American students. Garden Grove Unified School District's public information officer responded by saying the students will face "disciplinary action in accordance with the California Education Code."

Indiana

Two Hmong men were rejected from two hotels in Indiana because hotel staff thought they might have the virus.

A Korean American doctor born in Louisville, Kentucky was kicked out of a Marathon Petroleum gas station in Martinsville. The clerk told him he was not allowed to buy anything, or use the bathroom, and to never come back.

New Jersey

Governor Murphy also acknowledged reports of bias against Korean-Americans in Bergen County, which has experienced the worst outbreak in New Jersey to date.

New York

On 10 March 2020, a Korean woman in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, was confronted on the street by somebody yelling "Where is your corona mask, you Asian bitch?" before punching the woman, dislocating her jaw. Later in the week, in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, an Asian man walking with his 10-year-old son was harassed by a person yelling, "Where the fuck is your mask? You fucking Chinese" before being hit over the head. Another incident occurred on 16 March where a woman in Midtown Manhattan was spat upon, and had her hair pulled out by a woman who blamed her for coronavirus.

In the New York City Subway, a woman wearing a face mask was punched and kicked by a man who called her "diseased". Numerous other incidences of harassment of Asians on the New York City Subway followed, including one in which a person was seen spraying an Asian man with an unknown substance. On 19 March 2020, an Asian woman was robbed of her cellphone by a man who swung a punch at her and told her, "Go back to China", "You are dirty, get your temperature checked"; the victim was unharmed.

In Brooklyn, New York, a social media post was sent from the office of New York State Assemblymember Mathylde Frontus urging citizens to avoid Chinese businesses. Frontus apologized for the message, blaming the incident on a part-time office assistant sharing a chain email; the staff worker was fired and the rest of the staff was ordered to complete cultural sensitivity training. The apology by the Assemblymember triggered Brooklyn Community Board 13 member Ronald X. Stewart to post a xenophobic anti-Chinese rant, also targeted to Chinese-Americans, on social media expressing dismay that the Assemblymember had to make an apology. That community board member was given notice by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams that his reappointment to the community board would not be renewed.

Pennsylvania

In a Philadelphia SEPTA subway station, an Asian couple was surrounded by a group and attacked. Harassment and attacks on Asians have included a reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer who was verbally harassed several times.

Texas

At a Sam's Club in Midland, Texas, a 19-year-old stabbed 2 adults and 2 children along with a Sam's Club employee who attempted to stop the attack. The victims were identified as an Asian family and the case is being investigated as a hate crime.

Chinatown in Houston faced a drop in customers after people falsely and maliciously spread rumors online of an outbreak of the coronavirus. Restaurants in Chinatown in Boston have also lost customers due to fears of coronavirus. The government of New York City cited a report which estimated a 40 percent sales drop for Chinese businesses in Flushing, Queens, while other reports suggested the drop ranged from 30 to 80 percent.

Washington

On March 26, 2020, windows were shattered at Jade Garden restaurant in Seattle's Chinatown-International District. Total damages was estimated to be around $1,500. The business was already down 80% at beginning of March, which forced the owner to temporarily lay off 33 employers. With this addition of damages, the owner said that they didn't have enough money for the repairs. It was reported that the damages weren't just a simple rock being thrown, but a deliberate attack where "someone took the time in the middle of the night to smash the windows in hard, very forcefully, five times."

In late March in Yakima, Washington, Minado Buffet had broken windows and the building was spray-painted with hate speech saying, "Take the corona back you chink." Damages would cost $1000 according to restaurant's owner.

Wisconsin

On March 24, 2020, a student from University of Wisconsin saw graffiti across street from the campus that was written in chalk, "It's from China #chinesevirus."

South America

Argentina

On 26 February 2020, an incident involving a fight was reported in La Plata between a Chinese supermarket owner and an Argentine delivery man. The fight was triggered because the delivery man jokingly said "¿Qué hacés, coronavirus?" ("What's up, coronavirus?"), making a joke about Chinese people and the coronavirus. Both men ended up injured and the police later had to intervene.

Bolivia

Local authorities quarantined three Japanese nationals despite them having no coronavirus-related symptoms.

Brazil

Brazil's Education Minister tweeted a racist, anti-Chinese slur on 4 April 2020. He insinuated that China was responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic and that it was part of its "plan for world domination." In the original Portuguese, his tweet substituted the letter "r" with capital "L"—"BLazil" instead of "Brazil," for example—in a style commonly used to mock a Chinese accent.

Public efforts against xenophobia and racism during coronavirus

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned racism against Chinese Canadians while attending a Lunar New Year festival in Toronto on 29 January 2020. Likewise, John Tory, the Mayor of Toronto, denounced xenophobia toward Chinese Canadians, amid reports of increasing stigma facing that community.

On 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization's Emergency Committee issued a statement advising all countries to be mindful of the "principles of Article 3 of the IHR (the International Health Regulations)", which the WHO says is a caution against "actions that promote stigma or discrimination", when conducting national response measures to the outbreak.

In response to the heightened outbreak of the virus in Italy, which caused the Chinese community to shut down businesses due to racist attacks, President Sergio Mattarella made a surprise visit to a primary school in Rome on 6 February 2020, of which nearly half of pupils are Chinese in origin as a show of support and solidarity, saying "Friendship and peace are fundamental and you know it."

An online petition entitled We zijn geen virussen! ("We are not viruses!" in English) was started in the Netherlands on 8 February 2020 in protest of racism against Dutch Chinese and others of Asian descent, which garnered over 13,600 signatures on its first day and was signed over 57,600 times at the end of the month.

On 27 February 2020, the High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called for solidarity with people of ethnic Asian origin subject to such discrimination.

On 14 March 2020, more than 200 civil rights groups in the United States demanded that the House of Representatives and Senate leadership publicly denounce the growing amount of anti-Asian racism related to the pandemic and take "tangible steps to counter the hysteria" around the coronavirus, offering the passage of a joint resolution denouncing the racism and xenophobia as one solution.

The Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council (A3PCON) with Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA) launched a website on 20 March 2020, encouraging the reporting of coronavirus-related harassment, discrimination, and bigotry.

In the United States, The Anti-Defamation League, the FBI and 2020 U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang have also pointed out that the virus has led to increased incidents of anti-semitism.

New York Attorney General Letitia James launched a hotline for New Yorkers to report hate crimes and discrimination amid the coronavirus outbreak.

See also

• Cyber racism
• Yellow Peril
• Anti-Chinese sentiment
• Anti-Filipino sentiment
• Anti-Japanese sentiment
• Anti-Korean sentiment
• Anti-Thai sentiment
• Anti-Vietnamese sentiment