Tag Archives: Guangzhou

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

China News | Black

People of African descent in Guangzhou face heightened discrimination amid COVID crisis

  • Afro-descendant residents of Guangzhou, home to one of the largest Black populations in China, have reportedly been evicted and rendered homeless, had businesses targeted, been profiled by police, and subject to other discriminatory responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • As the country has reported an overall decline in COVID-19 transmission, anti-Black discrimination has been tied to increased fears about the reintroduction of the virus from foreigners driven by misinformation.
  • The situation has ignited a diplomatic firestorm, with African political leaders expressing outrage on social media and the U.S. Consulate General cautioning Black Americans against travel to Guangzhou.

Read

“Africans in Guangzhou are on edge, after many are left homeless amid rising xenophobia as China fights a second wave of coronavirus” (CNN | April 2020)

“How foreigners, especially black people, became unwelcome in parts of China amid COVID crisis” (ABC News | April 2020)

“China fails to stop racism against Africans over Covid-19” (The Guardian | April 2020)

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

China Feature | African Immigrants

China’s Disappearing “Little Africa”

China’s increased economic ties with sub-Saharan Africa countries have opened up new immigration channels, with a flurry of “Chinatowns” and “Little Africas” popping up in destination countries. But as urban “beautification” campaigns expand in China’s cities, African immigrants have found their economic and social spaces under threat. Guangzhou, home to what is estimated to be China’s largest population of black African immigrants, has seen its vibrant African market dampened as urban development, an economic downturn, increased policing, tightening immigration policies, and social stigma have driven many enterprising immigrants out of public areas. CNN takes a look at the shifting prospects for African immigrants in China.

Read:
“The African migrants giving up on the Chinese dream” (CNN)

(Image Credit: via CNN)

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity
African immigrants in China face strict immigration restrictions and an ambivalent public
  • One report puts the number of Africans with residence permits in Guangzhou at 30,000, with an additional undocumented 300,000.
  • The detention of some in the community for overstaying or failing to obtain their visas contributes to a public perception of criminality in the black Chinese population.
  • As China has begun aggressive efforts at building Sino-African relations and investment in the African continent, overt online racism and xenophobia create setbacks in friendly bilateral exchange, though the attitudes are not universal.

“People tend to be much braver online where there’s no fear of identification or retribution. Most people that spout racism online are generally people who’ve had no contact with black people or have been slighted by one and then hate all of them.”

More on this story at Global Voices.

(Image Credit: Apple Daily, via Global Voices)