Coronavirus: “We Have Zero Tolerance For Discrimination” – Chinese Envoy Reacts To Harassment Of Nigerians In China
The Chinese government has said denied the harassment against foreign nationals, saying it has zero tolerance for racial discrimination.
It said this after Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the house of representatives, had a meeting with Zhou Pingjian, Chinese ambassador to Nigeria, over the reports on the maltreatment of Nigerians in the Asian country.
The speaker drew the attention of the ambassador to allegations that Nigerians are forced to go into a 14-day quarantine after spending the same period earlier and testing negative for COVID-19.
Some videos, including one showing a Nigerian diplomat protesting against the seizure of passports of some Nigerians have gone viral.
Nigerians in Guangzhou tested negative for #ChineseVirus, but Chinese epidemic prevention personnel took their passports & taking them to quarantine.
Nigerian consulate staff grabbed passports & returned them to their citizens. pic.twitter.com/MEumvoYd7y
— Sadir Palwan (@sadir_Palwan) April 10, 2020
The Consul-General of the Nigerian High Commission in China, Mr Anozie Maduabuchi Cyril, was seen in the video confronting some Chinese officials.
He also complained about the seizure of the passports of Nigerian nationals in Guangzhou and the continued quarantine of Nigerians, who had not travelled out the area for years.
Cyril while retrieving the seized passport contended that the documents were property of the Nigerian Government and China had no right to seize them, insisting that no Chinese citizen had been served the same treatment in Nigeria.
Gbajabiamila said Nigeria would not accept maltreatment of its citizens, saying;
As a government, we will not allow Chinese or other nationals to be maltreated just as we will not allow Nigerians to be maltreated in other countries.
He expressed that;
The way you treat your citizens, we expect that’s how you’ll treat others. We will not tolerate our citizens breaking your laws, but the crime of one citizen cannot be used to stigmatize the whole country.
It appears that’s what happened in this case. You can’t use one brush to smear the whole wall. Whatever the reason, it cannot be used and taken out on the entire community in China.
Responding, Pingjian said the Chinese authorities take the relationship with Nigeria seriously.
The ambassador said;
Until we receive a full report from back home, I cannot act, but I can assure you it is not a policy issue.
But in a tweet later, the Chinese embassy quoted Zhao Lijian, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, saying China and African countries are united “more than ever.”
The embassy tweeted that;
FM Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said: ‘China and African countries are united more than ever, demonstrating brotherhood in times of adversity. We treat all foreign nationals equally in China. We reject differential treatment, and we have zero tolerance for discrimination’.
