A quiet Chinatown

• IT was good to see the local newspaper highlighting on its front page the impact of the coronavirus scare on business in Chinatown, which sees more than 50 per cent reduction in trade on normally bustling trading days, (Coronavirus fears hit trade in Chinatown, February 14).

On top of this we have an IPSOS survey tell us incredibly that 1 in 7 people would avoid people of Chinese origin or appearance with the onset of coronavirus.

But as health officers have stated clearly, sinophobia – anti-Chinese racism – won’t save you from coronavirus, particularly when you remember that an ordinary Brit had brought it to our shores.

Unfortunately, sinophobia has a long history as Chinese people have faced perceptions of being “unhygienic” and “dirty” long before coronavirus came along. As early as the 19th century Opium Wars, the Chinese nation was referred to as the “sick man of Asia”.

This slur took a literal turn as Chinese migrants around the world came to be associated with poor hygiene and proneness to disease. We are clearly seeing sino­phobia raising its head again and it needs to dealt with head on.

MURAD QURESHI
Address supplied