Africans in China allege racism as fear of new virus cases unleashes xenophobia - The Washington Post

Alex Plavevski EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock An African man stands in a hotel entrance under lockdown in Guangzhou, China, on April 8.

Africans living in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou say they have been evicted from their apartments and refused entry to restaurants as part of a xenophobic campaign against black people that is ostensibly aimed at curbing the transmission of coronavirus.

Other black residents in a part of the city known as “Little Africa” are being forced to remain inside their apartments — even if they have not traveled anywhere that would warrant quarantine — and submit to coronavirus tests.

The Chinese authorities’ actions triggered protests from African governments — an embarrassment for Beijing as it seeks to woo African states with promises of loans and investment — and prompted U.S. diplomats over the weekend to warn African Americans to avoid the Guangzhou area.

“People are not happy because they’re being forced out of their apartments and into hotels where they have to pay [$30] a night for 28 days,” said Maximus Ogbonna, the president of a Nigerian community group in Guangzhou.

Ogbonna is in quarantine — for a second time — in his apartment, with a camera installed over the door so police can monitor him. He completed a 14-day quarantine in March after returning from Nigeria but was told by local officials on April 8 that he had to do another 14 days in isolation, although he had tested negative for the virus and had not traveled elsewhere.

[Five-step plan for reopening business gets put to the test in China]

The focus on African residents comes amid broader restrictions on foreigners in China as officials, having curtailed the coronavirus outbreak that began in the central city of Wuhan in November, grow concerned about a second wave of infections from abroad.

China last month banned entry to all foreigners, although some 90 percent of new cases had been Chinese citizens returning from places such as Italy, Iran and the United States. Among the 98 new infections from abroad reported Monday, all but a few were Chinese nationals arriving from Russia.

In Guangdong province, of which Guangzhou is the capital, 183 people have returned from abroad with the virus since it began spreading outside China. Twenty-two were from Africa, according to official figures. Some 30,000 foreigners live in Guangzhou, including about 4,500 Africans.

The Chinese government appears conscious of the need to be acting against a second wave, analysts say, and foreigners are an easy target.

Residents in Beijing and Shanghai have reported incidents of bars and restaurants refusing entry to foreigners. But in Guangzhou, home to the largest African diaspora in Asia, it appears to be wider and more systematic.

Photos and videos posted on social media over the weekend showed Africans sleeping on sidewalks or waiting under shop awnings after being ordered out of their apartments and hotel rooms. Others showed Nigerian diplomats delivering food in the pouring rain to evicted compatriots, and Chinese police in riot gear herding African men along a street.

One widely shared video showed a McDonald’s employee holding a sign stating that “from now on black people are not allowed to enter the restaurant.”

“If this is about the virus, then why aren’t all foreigners being treated the same?” Ogbonna said.

A McDonald’s China spokeswoman confirmed that black people were refused entry to a Guangzhou restaurant on Saturday evening. “McDonald’s China apologizes unreservedly to the individual and our customers,” said the spokeswoman, Regina Hui, adding that the restaurant had been ordered to stop such actions.

[Taiwan rejects WHO chief’s claim of racist campaign against him]

These incidents prompted the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou to warn African Americans about discrimination. Police had ordered bars and restaurants not to serve clients who appear to be of African origin, it wrote in an advisory to Americans in China. Local officials were implementing mandatory coronavirus tests followed by mandatory self-quarantine “for anyone with ‘African contacts,’ regardless of recent travel history or previous quarantine completion,” the consulate wrote.

Recent developments appear to have inflamed anti-foreigner sentiment in China.

Five Nigerians reportedly tested positive in Guangzhou last week and, according to Chinese state media, they broke their quarantine and infected the owner of a local restaurant and his eight-year-old daughter. A Nigerian man who tested positive for coronavirus after arriving in Guangzhou was accused of assaulting a nurse while trying to escape from quarantine at a hospital.

Governments across Africa, as well as the African Union, have been summoning Chinese ambassadors for remonstrations about the treatment of their citizens.

https://twitter.com/SpeakerGbaja/status/1248658784924426240?s=20">

“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,” the speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, wrote on Twitter after complaining to the Chinese ambassador in Abuja, Zhou Pingjian.

Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, condemned the “ill-treatment and racial discrimination” against Ghanaians and other Africans in China.

[Infrared cameras, personal towels: China factories go to extremes to fend off virus]

In Beijing, Chinese officials said that the actions were motivated by concern for “the life and health of foreign nationals in China.”

“We treat all foreigners in China equally and we reject discrimination,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters Monday. “In response to the African side’s concerns regarding their citizens in Guangdong, provincial authorities have rolled out new measures and we believe that by working together, we can resolve this properly.”

While Zhao talked about China and Africa as “brothers and friends,” this view is not shared by many in Africa.

“Kenya and the rest of Africa feel deeply betrayed by China,” the country’s Daily Nation newspaper wrote in an editorial, saying that Africa supported China during the coronavirus outbreak yet Chinese people had “turned against Africans in their midst.”

“This is the height of treachery and defies social relations and human rights, let alone international protocols. It is racist and objectionable,” the paper wrote.

China’s ruling Communist Party has been courting African nations as part of its global effort to win political influence and commercial contracts. In addition to promoting its Belt and Road infrastructure projects on the continent, Chinese leader Xi Jinping announced $60 billion in aid and loans for Africa during a summit in Beijing in 2018.

Hit by the coronavirus outbreak, African nations are now pushing China to forgive some of the debt they have built up in recent decades. Beijing is likely to endorse a temporary freeze on debt payments by African countries as part of an expected agreement by the Group of 20 major economies this week, Reuters reported Monday.

Read more

As Wuhan reopens, China revs engine to move past coronavirus. But it’s stuck in second gear.

As Wuhan’s lockdown ends, residents leave messages for the dead doctor who sounded the alarm on coronavirus

China probes tycoon who labeled Xi a ‘clown’ over fumbled coronavirus response

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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2020-04-13 13:46:47Z
52780720502211

Africans in China allege racism as fear of new virus cases unleashes xenophobia - The Washington Post

Alex Plavevski EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock An African man stands in a hotel entrance under lockdown in Guangzhou, China, on April 8.

Africans living in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou say they have been evicted from their apartments and refused entry to restaurants as part of a xenophobic campaign against black people that is ostensibly aimed at curbing the transmission of coronavirus.

Other black residents in a part of the city known as “Little Africa” are being forced to remain inside their apartments — even if they have not traveled anywhere that would warrant quarantine — and submit to coronavirus tests.

The Chinese authorities’ actions triggered protests from African governments — an embarrassment for Beijing as it seeks to woo African states with promises of loans and investment — and prompted U.S. diplomats over the weekend to warn African Americans to avoid the Guangzhou area.

“People are not happy because they’re being forced out of their apartments and into hotels where they have to pay [$30] a night for 28 days,” said Maximus Ogbonna, the president of a Nigerian community group in Guangzhou.

Ogbonna is in quarantine — for a second time — in his apartment, with a camera installed over the door so police can monitor him. He completed a 14-day quarantine in March after returning from Nigeria but was told by local officials on April 8 that he had to do another 14 days in isolation, although he had tested negative for the virus and had not traveled elsewhere.

[Five-step plan for reopening business gets put to the test in China]

The focus on African residents comes amid broader restrictions on foreigners in China as officials, having curtailed the coronavirus outbreak that began in the central city of Wuhan in November, grow concerned about a second wave of infections from abroad.

China last month banned entry to all foreigners, although some 90 percent of new cases had been Chinese citizens returning from places such as Italy, Iran and the United States. Among the 98 new infections from abroad reported Monday, all but a few were Chinese nationals arriving from Russia.

In Guangdong province, of which Guangzhou is the capital, 183 people have returned from abroad with the virus since it began spreading outside China. Twenty-two were from Africa, according to official figures. Some 30,000 foreigners live in Guangzhou, including about 4,500 Africans.

The Chinese government appears conscious of the need to be acting against a second wave, analysts say, and foreigners are an easy target.

Residents in Beijing and Shanghai have reported incidents of bars and restaurants refusing entry to foreigners. But in Guangzhou, home to the largest African diaspora in Asia, it appears to be wider and more systematic.

Photos and videos posted on social media over the weekend showed Africans sleeping on sidewalks or waiting under shop awnings after being ordered out of their apartments and hotel rooms. Others showed Nigerian diplomats delivering food in the pouring rain to evicted compatriots, and Chinese police in riot gear herding African men along a street.

One widely shared video showed a McDonald’s employee holding a sign stating that “from now on black people are not allowed to enter the restaurant.”

“If this is about the virus, then why aren’t all foreigners being treated the same?” Ogbonna said.

A McDonald’s China spokeswoman confirmed that black people were refused entry to a Guangzhou restaurant on Saturday evening. “McDonald’s China apologizes unreservedly to the individual and our customers,” said the spokeswoman, Regina Hui, adding that the restaurant had been ordered to stop such actions.

[Taiwan rejects WHO chief’s claim of racist campaign against him]

These incidents prompted the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou to warn African Americans about discrimination. Police had ordered bars and restaurants not to serve clients who appear to be of African origin, it wrote in an advisory to Americans in China. Local officials were implementing mandatory coronavirus tests followed by mandatory self-quarantine “for anyone with ‘African contacts,’ regardless of recent travel history or previous quarantine completion,” the consulate wrote.

Recent developments appear to have inflamed anti-foreigner sentiment in China.

Five Nigerians reportedly tested positive in Guangzhou last week and, according to Chinese state media, they broke their quarantine and infected the owner of a local restaurant and his eight-year-old daughter. A Nigerian man who tested positive for coronavirus after arriving in Guangzhou was accused of assaulting a nurse while trying to escape from quarantine at a hospital.

Governments across Africa, as well as the African Union, have been summoning Chinese ambassadors for remonstrations about the treatment of their citizens.

https://twitter.com/SpeakerGbaja/status/1248658784924426240?s=20">

“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,” the speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, wrote on Twitter after complaining to the Chinese ambassador in Abuja, Zhou Pingjian.

Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, condemned the “ill-treatment and racial discrimination” against Ghanaians and other Africans in China.

[Infrared cameras, personal towels: China factories go to extremes to fend off virus]

In Beijing, Chinese officials said that the actions were motivated by concern for “the life and health of foreign nationals in China.”

“We treat all foreigners in China equally and we reject discrimination,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters Monday. “In response to the African side’s concerns regarding their citizens in Guangdong, provincial authorities have rolled out new measures and we believe that by working together, we can resolve this properly.”

While Zhao talked about China and Africa as “brothers and friends,” this view is not shared by many in Africa.

“Kenya and the rest of Africa feel deeply betrayed by China,” the country’s Daily Nation newspaper wrote in an editorial, saying that Africa supported China during the coronavirus outbreak yet Chinese people had “turned against Africans in their midst.”

“This is the height of treachery and defies social relations and human rights, let alone international protocols. It is racist and objectionable,” the paper wrote.

China’s ruling Communist Party has been courting African nations as part of its global effort to win political influence and commercial contracts. In addition to promoting its Belt and Road infrastructure projects on the continent, Chinese leader Xi Jinping announced $60 billion in aid and loans for Africa during a summit in Beijing in 2018.

Hit by the coronavirus outbreak, African nations are now pushing China to forgive some of the debt they have built up in recent decades. Beijing is likely to endorse a temporary freeze on debt payments by African countries as part of an expected agreement by the Group of 20 major economies this week, Reuters reported Monday.

Read more

As Wuhan reopens, China revs engine to move past coronavirus. But it’s stuck in second gear.

As Wuhan’s lockdown ends, residents leave messages for the dead doctor who sounded the alarm on coronavirus

China probes tycoon who labeled Xi a ‘clown’ over fumbled coronavirus response

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news

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2020-04-13 13:15:10Z
52780720502211

Africans in China allege racism as fear of new virus cases unleashes xenophobia - The Washington Post

Alex Plavevski EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock An African man stands in a hotel entrance under lockdown in Guangzhou, China, on April 8.

Africans living in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou say they have been evicted from their apartments and refused entry to restaurants as part of a xenophobic campaign against black people that is ostensibly aimed at curbing the transmission of coronavirus.

Other black residents in a part of the city known as “Little Africa” are being forced to remain inside their apartments — even if they have not traveled anywhere that would warrant quarantine — and submit to coronavirus tests.

The Chinese authorities’ actions triggered protests from African governments — an embarrassment for Beijing as it seeks to woo African states with promises of loans and investment — and prompted U.S. diplomats over the weekend to warn African Americans to avoid the Guangzhou area.

“People are not happy because they’re being forced out of their apartments and into hotels where they have to pay [$30] a night for 28 days,” said Maximus Ogbonna, the president of a Nigerian community group in Guangzhou.

Ogbonna is in quarantine — for a second time — in his apartment, with a camera installed over the door so police can monitor him. He completed a 14-day quarantine in March after returning from Nigeria but was told by local officials on April 8 that he had to do another 14 days in isolation, although he had tested negative for the virus and had not traveled elsewhere.

[Five-step plan for reopening business gets put to the test in China]

The focus on African residents comes amid broader restrictions on foreigners in China as officials, having curtailed the coronavirus outbreak that began in the central city of Wuhan in November, grow concerned about a second wave of infections from abroad.

China last month banned entry to all foreigners, although some 90 percent of new cases had been Chinese citizens returning from places such as Italy, Iran and the United States. Among the 98 new infections from abroad reported Monday, all but a few were Chinese nationals arriving from Russia.

In Guangdong province, of which Guangzhou is the capital, 183 people have returned from abroad with the virus since it began spreading outside China. Twenty-two were from Africa, according to official figures. Some 30,000 foreigners live in Guangzhou, including about 4,500 Africans.

The Chinese government appears conscious of the need to be acting against a second wave, analysts say, and foreigners are an easy target.

Residents in Beijing and Shanghai have reported incidents of bars and restaurants refusing entry to foreigners. But in Guangzhou, home to the largest African diaspora in Asia, it appears to be wider and more systematic.

Photos and videos posted on social media over the weekend showed Africans sleeping on sidewalks or waiting under shop awnings after being ordered out of their apartments and hotel rooms. Others showed Nigerian diplomats delivering food in the pouring rain to evicted compatriots, and Chinese police in riot gear herding African men along a street.

One widely shared video showed a McDonald’s employee holding a sign stating that “from now on black people are not allowed to enter the restaurant.”

“If this is about the virus, then why aren’t all foreigners being treated the same?” Ogbonna said.

A McDonald’s China spokeswoman confirmed that black people were refused entry to a Guangzhou restaurant on Saturday evening. “McDonald’s China apologizes unreservedly to the individual and our customers,” said the spokeswoman, Regina Hui, adding that the restaurant had been ordered to stop such actions.

[Taiwan rejects WHO chief’s claim of racist campaign against him]

These incidents prompted the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou to warn African Americans about discrimination. Police had ordered bars and restaurants not to serve clients who appear to be of African origin, it wrote in an advisory to Americans in China. Local officials were implementing mandatory coronavirus tests followed by mandatory self-quarantine “for anyone with ‘African contacts,’ regardless of recent travel history or previous quarantine completion,” the consulate wrote.

Recent developments appear to have inflamed anti-foreigner sentiment in China.

Five Nigerians reportedly tested positive in Guangzhou last week and, according to Chinese state media, they broke their quarantine and infected the owner of a local restaurant and his eight-year-old daughter. A Nigerian man who tested positive for coronavirus after arriving in Guangzhou was accused of assaulting a nurse while trying to escape from quarantine at a hospital.

Governments across Africa, as well as the African Union, have been summoning Chinese ambassadors for remonstrations about the treatment of their citizens.

https://twitter.com/SpeakerGbaja/status/1248658784924426240?s=20">

“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,” the speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, wrote on Twitter after complaining to the Chinese ambassador in Abuja, Zhou Pingjian.

Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, condemned the “ill-treatment and racial discrimination” against Ghanaians and other Africans in China.

[Infrared cameras, personal towels: China factories go to extremes to fend off virus]

In Beijing, Chinese officials said that the actions were motivated by concern for “the life and health of foreign nationals in China.”

“We treat all foreigners in China equally and we reject discrimination,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters Monday. “In response to the African side’s concerns regarding their citizens in Guangdong, provincial authorities have rolled out new measures and we believe that by working together, we can resolve this properly.”

While Zhao talked about China and Africa as “brothers and friends,” this view is not shared by many in Africa.

“Kenya and the rest of Africa feel deeply betrayed by China,” the country’s Daily Nation newspaper wrote in an editorial, saying that Africa supported China during the coronavirus outbreak yet Chinese people had “turned against Africans in their midst.”

“This is the height of treachery and defies social relations and human rights, let alone international protocols. It is racist and objectionable,” the paper wrote.

China’s ruling Communist Party has been courting African nations as part of its global effort to win political influence and commercial contracts. In addition to promoting its Belt and Road infrastructure projects on the continent, Chinese leader Xi Jinping announced $60 billion in aid and loans for Africa during a summit in Beijing in 2018.

Hit by the coronavirus outbreak, African nations are now pushing China to forgive some of the debt they have built up in recent decades. Beijing is likely to endorse a temporary freeze on debt payments by African countries as part of an expected agreement by the Group of 20 major economies this week, Reuters reported Monday.

Read more

As Wuhan reopens, China revs engine to move past coronavirus. But it’s stuck in second gear.

As Wuhan’s lockdown ends, residents leave messages for the dead doctor who sounded the alarm on coronavirus

China probes tycoon who labeled Xi a ‘clown’ over fumbled coronavirus response

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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2020-04-13 12:34:33Z
52780720502211

Africans in China allege racism as fear of new virus cases unleashes xenophobia - The Washington Post

Alex Plavevski EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock An African man stands in a hotel entrance under lockdown in Guangzhou, China, on April 8.

Africans living in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou say they have been evicted from their apartments and refused entry to restaurants as part of a xenophobic campaign against black people that is ostensibly aimed at curbing the transmission of coronavirus.

Other black residents in a part of the city known as “Little Africa” are being forced to remain inside their apartments — even if they have not traveled anywhere that would warrant quarantine — and submit to coronavirus tests.

The Chinese authorities’ actions triggered protests from African governments — an embarrassment for Beijing as it seeks to woo African states with promises of loans and investment — and prompted U.S. diplomats over the weekend to warn African Americans to avoid the Guangzhou area.

“People are not happy because they’re being forced out of their apartments and into hotels where they have to pay [$30] a night for 28 days,” said Maximus Ogbonna, the president of a Nigerian community group in Guangzhou.

Ogbonna is in quarantine — for a second time — in his apartment, with a camera installed over the door so police can monitor him. He completed a 14-day quarantine in March after returning from Nigeria but was told by local officials on April 8 that he had to do another 14 days in isolation, although he had tested negative for the virus and had not traveled elsewhere.

[Five-step plan for reopening business gets put to the test in China]

The focus on African residents comes amid broader restrictions on foreigners in China as officials, having curtailed the coronavirus outbreak that began in the central city of Wuhan in November, grow concerned about a second wave of infections from abroad.

China last month banned entry to all foreigners, although some 90 percent of new cases had been Chinese citizens returning from places such as Italy, Iran and the United States. Among the 98 new infections from abroad reported Monday, all but a few were Chinese nationals arriving from Russia.

In Guangdong province, of which Guangzhou is the capital, 183 people have returned from abroad with the virus since it began spreading outside China. Twenty-two were from Africa, according to official figures. Some 30,000 foreigners live in Guangzhou, including about 4,500 Africans.

The Chinese government appears conscious of the need to be acting against a second wave, analysts say, and foreigners are an easy target.

Residents in Beijing and Shanghai have reported incidents of bars and restaurants refusing entry to foreigners. But in Guangzhou, home to the largest African diaspora in Asia, it appears to be wider and more systematic.

Photos and videos posted on social media over the weekend showed Africans sleeping on sidewalks or waiting under shop awnings after being ordered out of their apartments and hotel rooms. Others showed Nigerian diplomats delivering food in the pouring rain to evicted compatriots, and Chinese police in riot gear herding African men along a street.

One widely shared video showed a McDonald’s employee holding a sign stating that “from now on black people are not allowed to enter the restaurant.”

“If this is about the virus, then why aren’t all foreigners being treated the same?” Ogbonna said.

A McDonald’s China spokeswoman confirmed that black people were refused entry to a Guangzhou restaurant on Saturday evening. “McDonald’s China apologizes unreservedly to the individual and our customers,” said the spokeswoman, Regina Hui, adding that the restaurant had been ordered to stop such actions.

[Taiwan rejects WHO chief’s claim of racist campaign against him]

These incidents prompted the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou to warn African Americans about discrimination. Police had ordered bars and restaurants not to serve clients who appear to be of African origin, it wrote in an advisory to Americans in China. Local officials were implementing mandatory coronavirus tests followed by mandatory self-quarantine “for anyone with ‘African contacts,’ regardless of recent travel history or previous quarantine completion,” the consulate wrote.

Recent developments appear to have inflamed anti-foreigner sentiment in China.

Five Nigerians reportedly tested positive in Guangzhou last week and, according to Chinese state media, they broke their quarantine and infected the owner of a local restaurant and his eight-year-old daughter. A Nigerian man who tested positive for coronavirus after arriving in Guangzhou was accused of assaulting a nurse while trying to escape from quarantine at a hospital.

Governments across Africa, as well as the African Union, have been summoning Chinese ambassadors for remonstrations about the treatment of their citizens.

https://twitter.com/SpeakerGbaja/status/1248658784924426240?s=20">

“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,” the speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, wrote on Twitter after complaining to the Chinese ambassador in Abuja, Zhou Pingjian.

Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, condemned the “ill-treatment and racial discrimination” against Ghanaians and other Africans in China.

[Infrared cameras, personal towels: China factories go to extremes to fend off virus]

In Beijing, Chinese officials said that the actions were motivated by concern for “the life and health of foreign nationals in China.”

“We treat all foreigners in China equally and we reject discrimination,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters Monday. “In response to the African side’s concerns regarding their citizens in Guangdong, provincial authorities have rolled out new measures and we believe that by working together, we can resolve this properly.”

While Zhao talked about China and Africa as “brothers and friends,” this view is not shared by many in Africa.

“Kenya and the rest of Africa feel deeply betrayed by China,” the country’s Daily Nation newspaper wrote in an editorial, saying that Africa supported China during the coronavirus outbreak yet Chinese people had “turned against Africans in their midst.”

“This is the height of treachery and defies social relations and human rights, let alone international protocols. It is racist and objectionable,” the paper wrote.

China’s ruling Communist Party has been courting African nations as part of its global effort to win political influence and commercial contracts. In addition to promoting its Belt and Road infrastructure projects on the continent, Chinese leader Xi Jinping announced $60 billion in aid and loans for Africa during a summit in Beijing in 2018.

Hit by the coronavirus outbreak, African nations are now pushing China to forgive some of the debt they have built up in recent decades. Beijing is likely to endorse a temporary freeze on debt payments by African countries as part of an expected agreement by the Group of 20 major economies this week, Reuters reported Monday.

Read more

As Wuhan reopens, China revs engine to move past coronavirus. But it’s stuck in second gear.

As Wuhan’s lockdown ends, residents leave messages for the dead doctor who sounded the alarm on coronavirus

China probes tycoon who labeled Xi a ‘clown’ over fumbled coronavirus response

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news

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2020-04-13 12:04:28Z
52780720502211

Russian border new battleground as China's COVID-19 cases sharply rise: report - Fox News

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A northeast Chinese province bordering Russia has been targeted by health officials after infected overseas travelers there have reportedly driven up the number of coronavirus cases, Reuters reported Sunday.

Chinese officials are worried and fear a rise in imported cases in Heilongjiang province, which they say could spark a second wave of COVID-19, the report said.

Latest figures show a total of 108 new coronavirus cases were reported in mainland China Sunday, up from 99 a day prior and signifying the largest number of cases since 143 infections were reported on March 5.

‘HUGE INFLUX’ OF CORONAVIRUS PATIENTS PUTTING STRAIN ON MOSCOW HOSPITALS, KREMLIN SAYS

Officials at the National Health Commission said 98 of the new cases were imported – a new record. Forty-nine Chinese nationals entered Heilongjiang province from Russia and tested positive.

“Our little town here, we thought it was the safest place. Some Chinese citizens they want to come back, but it’s not very sensible. What are you doing coming here for?” 

— Zhu, Suifenhe resident

“Our little town here, we thought it was the safest place,” said a resident of the border city of Suifenhe, who only gave his surname as Zhu.

CHINA WAS 'NOT TRUTHFUL' ABOUT INITIAL CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK, EX-FDA BOSS GOTTLIEB SAYS

“Some Chinese citizens they want to come back, but it’s not very sensible. What are you doing coming here for?”

A worker packs finished masks in a production line for the Wuhan Zonsen Medical Products Co. Ltd. in Wuhan, in central China's Hubei province Sunday, April 12, 2020. Chinese regulators say ventilators, masks and other supplies being exported to fight the coronavirus will be subject to quality inspections following complaints shoddy or substandard goods were being sold abroad. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

China’s daily infections have dropped sharply from the height of the epidemic in February, the report said, but China has seen the daily toll creep higher after hitting a leveling off on March 12 because of the rise in imported cases.

Chinese cities near the border with Russia are tightening border controls and imposing stricter quarantines in response to an influx of infected patients from the country.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Last week, Suifenhe announced restrictions on movements and gatherings similar to those imposed in Wuhan, where the coronavirus outbreak first emerged late last year, and extended the closure of its border with Russia. Among the additional restrictions, China is mandating 28 days of quarantine for all arrivals from abroad as well as nucleic acid and antibody tests, Reuters reported.

Streets in Suifenhe were nearly empty Sunday evening due to restrictions of movement.

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2020-04-13 10:36:24Z
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Oil Prices Rise After Deal on Cutting Production: Live Updates - The New York Times

Desk belonging to Jason Vedder, director of trading at Driehaus Capital Management in Chicago, now working from home in the Rogers Park neighborhood.Credit...Jason Vedder

With traders working from home, markets may be even less stable.

Ever since the coronavirus pandemic forced thousands of traders, sales representatives, analysts, bankers and risk managers out of their workplaces and into their homes, the foot soldiers of finance have been making do with technology that’s far more ordinary than many of them are used to.

Two computer screens instead of four. Slower wireless connections. Plain old cellphones — missed calls and all — instead of a specialized telephone known as a “turret.” Instant messaging and video conferencing replacing quick bursts of conversation across a floor.

The individual inconveniences are relatively minor but together, they have had a noticeable impact on the functioning of markets, according to traders, investors and regulators. The rapid-fire, split-second nature of global trading has slowed slightly because communicating decisions takes longer. And that, in turn, has added a layer of unexpected friction to already volatile markets.

Companies invest heavily in technology and have elaborate setups meant to simplify communication between trading desks, analysts and clients. Milliseconds make a difference in this environment, because prices can change swiftly.

Troy Rohrbaugh, the head of global markets at JPMorgan Chase recalled how, one day in mid-March, when the market was swinging wildly, a large client needed to sell a significant chunk of bonds. Mr. Rohrbaugh, who was in his office at the bank’s Midtown headquarters, stepped onto the trading floor to confer with a couple of traders and a salesman.

“We were done and dusted and shelling a price to a client in two minutes, three minutes,” he said. “Can you imagine that conversation taking 30 minutes or longer in markets that are moving as rapidly as they are now?” He continues to work from the office despite a recent outbreak of the coronavirus there.

“Trading floors are designed the way they are to most effectively and most efficiently socialize information,” said Joshua Younger, a bond market analyst at JPMorgan. Running a trading operation from home is like “a football team running a play by text,” he said. “It wouldn’t work as well. All the information would get conveyed, but not at the speed and the pace that’s required.”

Farmers are destroying tens of millions of pounds of fresh food.

Here is a ghastly effect of the pandemic: After weeks of concern about shortages in grocery stores, and scenes of food banks overrun by millions of unemployed and hungry Americans, farmers are liquidating their crops because big institutional buyers, like schools and hotels, have closed.

In Wisconsin and Ohio, farmers are dumping thousands of gallons of fresh milk into lagoons and manure pits. An Idaho farmer has dug huge ditches to bury one million pounds of onions. And in South Florida, tractors are crisscrossing bean and cabbage fields, plowing perfectly ripe vegetables back into the soil.

“It’s heartbreaking,” said Paul Allen, a co-owner of R.C. Hatton Farms, who has had to destroy millions of pounds of beans and cabbage in South Florida and Georgia.

Some farms have tried to donate crops to food banks and other charitable groups, but there is only so much perishable inventory that these organizations can absorb, with their limited numbers of refrigerators and volunteers. And many farms, already hurting financially, cannot take on the storage and transportation costs.

Farms are not well set up to sell into retail stores. The machines used by dairy processors, for example, are designed to package shredded cheese into large bags for restaurants, or put milk in small cartons for schools. Updating that equipment to make supermarket-friendly bags of cheese would require millions in capital.

Exporting much of the excess food is not feasible either, farmers say, because many international customers are also struggling through the pandemic and recent currency fluctuations make exports unprofitable.

China said it would delay the delivery of masks and ventilators to address quality concerns.

Hospitals struggling to cope with the coronavirus pandemic could face new delays in acquiring critical gear, after China announced that it will inspect shipments of N95 respirator masks, ventilators and other medical supplies before export. Depending on the city, the delays could range from a few hours to a few days or longer.

There has been a slew of complaints about defective Chinese-made protective equipment arriving in Europe. China is the world’s leading producer of a long list of medical supplies, and has expanded its manufacturing capacity since the crisis unfolded. At the start of February, the country produced 10 million respirators daily. Just a month later, its factories were producing 116 million, in part because facilities that once made, for example, cranes or winches were suddenly being repurposed.

The new rules come as countries have complained that a global free-for-all for personal protection equipment has left acute shortages for doctors and nurses.

Oil prices rise on deal for record production cut

Oil prices rose on Monday, one day after petroleum-producing nations agreed to the largest production cut ever negotiated.

Sunday’s agreement marked an unprecedented coordinated effort by Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United States to stabilize oil prices and, indirectly, global financial markets.

Saudi Arabia and Russia typically take the lead in setting global production goals. But President Trump, facing a re-election campaign, a plunging economy and American oil companies struggling with collapsing prices, took the unusual step of getting involved after the two countries entered a price war a month ago. Mr. Trump had made an agreement a key priority.

It was unclear, however, whether the cuts would be enough to bolster petroleum prices. Before the coronavirus crisis, 100 million barrels of oil each day fueled global commerce, but demand is now down about 35 percent. While the cuts agreed to on Sunday were significant, they still fall far short of what is needed to bring oil production in line with demand.

The plan by OPEC, Russia and other allied producers in a group known as OPEC Plus will slash production by 9.7 million barrels a day in May and June, or close to 10 percent of the world’s output.

Analysts expect oil prices, which soared above $100 a barrel only six years ago, to remain below $40 for the foreseeable future. The American oil benchmark price was just over $23 a barrel on Sunday night.

“This is at least a temporary relief for the energy industry and for the global economy,” said Per Magnus Nysveen, head of analysis for Rystad Energy, a Norwegian consultancy. “The industry is too big to be let to fail.”

On Monday oil markets cheered the prospect of production cuts. Futures for West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. oil price benchmark, were up more than 4 percent to about $24 a barrel. Futures for Brent crude rose by a similar amount, to about $33 a barrel.

Asian markets fall as investors weigh oil deal and outbreak news.

Global markets began the week in the red on Monday, as signs of progress in fighting the coronavirus as well as the new oil deal between major petroleum-producing nations failed to soothe investors.

Stocks in Japan fell 2.3 percent, leading the declines. Futures markets predicted Wall Street would open lower as well. Major European markets were closed for the Easter holiday.

Investors on Monday were parsing the implications of the oil production deal between members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major countries to trim output to put a floor on fuel prices. Low oil prices are generally good for the world economy, but the disruptions to the energy industry and to countries that depend on selling petroleum have unnerved investors. Oil prices rose earlier in the day then lost steam as European trading began.

Global investors were also parsing the latest developments in the coronavirus fight. While the United States and other countries appeared to continue to make progress in containing the outbreak, signs of disarray within the Trump administration sowed doubts.

Reflecting the mixed sentiment, prices for U.S. Treasury bonds were lower, generally an indication of improved sentiment.

In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.9 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index in mainland China fell 0.5 percent. Hong Kong markets were closed for a holiday.

Catch up: Here’s what else you need to know.

• After slashing the majority of its trips domestically and abroad, United Airlines said it would add a few international routes next month. The carrier plans to start daily service on May 4 on three routes: Chicago to London, Newark to Amsterdam and Washington to Frankfurt. It also plans to offer three flights a week between Washington and Buenos Aires starting on May 5.

David Yaffe-Bellany, Michael Corkery, Matt Phillips, Clifford Krauss and Carlos Tejada contributed reporting.

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2020-04-13 10:01:00Z
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China's border with Russia new front line in coronavirus fight - Al Jazeera English

China's northeastern border with Russia has become a front line in the country's fight against a resurgence of the coronavirus, as new daily cases, while remaining relatively low compared with other global hot spots, rose to the highest in nearly six weeks.  

After reporting to have largely stamped out the domestic transmission of the disease, China has been slowly easing curbs on movement as it tries to get its economy back on track, but there are fears that a rise in imported cases could lead to a second wave of the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19. 

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A total of 108 new cases were reported in mainland China on Sunday, up from 99 a day earlier, marking the highest daily tally since March 5.

Imported cases accounted for a record 98 of those infections and half of those imported infections involved Chinese nationals returning from Russia's Far Eastern Federal District, home to the city of Vladivostok, who had re-entered China through border crossings in Heilongjiang province, according to authorities.

Meanwhile, the Chinese cities along the Russian frontier have been tightening border controls and imposing stricter quarantines in response to the threat.

The city of Suifenhe and the provincial capital of Heilongjiang, Harbin, are now mandating 28 days of quarantine as well as nucleic acid and antibody tests for all arrivals from abroad. 

"Our little town here, we thought it was the safest place," a resident of the border city of Suifenhe, who only gave his surname as Zhu, told the Reuters news agency. 

"Some Chinese citizens - they want to come back, but it's not very sensible, what are you doing coming here for?" he said.

Similar restrictions to Wuhan

China's border with Russia remains closed, except to Chinese nationals, and the land route through Suifenhe has become one of the few options available for people trying to return home after Russia stopped flights, except for evacuation, to China.

The streets of the city were virtually empty on Sunday evening due to restrictions of movement and gatherings announced last week, when authorities took preventive measures similar to those imposed in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the first infections from the new coronavirus appeared in December.

The total number of confirmed cases in mainland China now stands at 82,160. Though the number of daily infections across China has dropped sharply from the February 12 peak, when more than 15,000 cases were reported in a day, China has in recent weeks seen the daily toll creep higher after hitting a low trough March 12.

In Shanghai, authorities found that 60 people who arrived on Aeroflot flight SU208 from Moscow on April 10 have the coronavirus, Zheng Jin, a spokeswoman for the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, told a news conference on Monday.

Residents in Suifenhe said a lot of people had left the city fearing contagion, but others put their trust in authorities' containment measures.

"I don't need to worry," Zhao Wei, another Suifenhe resident, told Reuters. "If there's a local transmission, I would, but there's not a single one. They're all from the border, but they've all been sent to quarantine." 

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2020-04-13 09:40:21Z
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