• Ambassador Wu Peng met Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau at MFA headquarters in Nairobi and assured him of China’s action on the matter.
• The meeting happened a day after Kamau gave an update on the situation of Kenyans in the diaspora, including China.
Ambassador Wu Peng and Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau at MFA headquarters in Nairobi/FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Kenya has finally summoned China’s Ambassador following public uproar over its lukewarm response to Kenyans mistreatment in the Asian country.
Ambassador Wu Peng met Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau at MFA headquarters in Nairobi on Wednesday and assured him of China’s action on the matter.
The meeting happened a day after Kamau gave an update on the situation of Kenyans in the diaspora, including China.
“Following previous communications on concern regarding the treatment of Kenyans in China, PS met with Chinese Amb Wu Peng and reiterated his displeasure and disappointment on the treatment of Kenyans,” MFA tweeted on Wednesday. “No excuse can justify discrimination and prejudice”.
On Tuesday, Kamau condemned discrimination against Kenyans saying, “For the record, as a country, we do not condone any form of racism, discrimination or profiling of any community, race or people anywhere in the world, including in China and our own country Kenya. Any purported form of discrimination on Africans in Guangzhou city as reported in the media is condemned.”
However, he caused backlash among Kenyans after he went ahead and appeared to justify the discrimination.
“…there was an upsurge of imported and asymptomatic cases in Guangzhou and other cities in Guangdong province that originated from Africans who had recently travelled to Guangzhou. The deteriorating situation in Guangzhou city thus forced the Provincial Government to institute tough measures to curb the spread of covid-19. Unfortunately, these measures are what led to the outcry that Africans were being discriminated against,” Kamau said in the statement.
But while the envoy made the assurances, the Chinese government on Monday denied any discrimination against Africans, saying they attach “high importance to the health and safety of foreign nationals in China. We treat them equally and reject any discriminatory measures in our outbreak response”.
“China and Africa have always been good friends, partners and brothers. At our most difficult times, Africa provided & voiced its support, and we repaid its kindness when Covid-19 hit Africa. China-Africa friendship remains unchanged,” China’s spokesperson Lijian Zhao said.
However, CNN on Monday reported that Beijing is facing a diplomatic crisis in Africa after reports of alleged coronavirus-related discrimination against African nationals in China sparked widespread anger across the continent.
“In Africa, however, governments, media outlets and citizens reacted angrily to the apparent rise in anti-foreigner sentiment, as videos of Africans being harassed by police, sleeping on the streets or being locked into their homes under quarantine circulated online,” CNN said.
