Over the past few weeks, as Chinese health officials reported new “imported” coronavirus cases almost every day, foreigners living in the country have been turned away from restaurants, shops, gyms and hotels, subjected to further screening, yelled at by locals and avoided in public spaces.
Kenyans are among hundreds of foreigners in China who have been kicked out from hotels and apartments as local health officials rollout a testing campaign for Covid-19 and now the Chinese Ambassador to Kenya, Wu Peng has revealed that Kenyans were mistreated as a result of them not maintaining social distance.
His response came after the Kenyan government on Friday protested to Beijing over footage of Kenyans sleeping on pavements and complaining of forced evictions.
“People who found themselves in trouble did not follow regulations on social distancing. Most reported are not Kenyans,” Peng said.
According to reports, Chinese police evicted Africans including Kenyans, forcibly and taking away their legal documents.
Posters have been put up in malls and restaurants asking Africans to stay away and in some videos, they were also banned from accessing hospitals.
Ambassador Wu Peng said he was in constant touch with authorities in China on safety of Kenyans, reiterating solid relations between the two nations.
ASSURANCES
However, in a statement the Kenyan Foreign Affairs ministry said that following its complaint, the Chinese government has given an assurance of reviewing of the situation.
“The Ministry has received assurances from the Chinese Embassy in Nairobi that the Government of China takes a serious view of the situation and that the local authorities in Guangzhou have been tasked to take immediate action to safeguard the legitimate rights of the Africans concerned,” the ministry said.
It also urged any Kenyan affected to reach out for help from the Kenyan Embassy in China, either directly or through their representatives.
Trouble is said to have started when Chinese authorities started implementing strict regulations on Covid-19, including testing everyone, including foreigners to tame the spread of the virus.
And when authorities embarked on testing everyone, some Africans are said to have been angered and claimed they were being targeted.
China has strictly implemented safety regulations, in what helped reduce the infections to zero, with more cases now imported. A total lockdown in Wuhan was lifted on Wednesday.
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