In May of 2020, ministers reported that hate crime directed at South & East Asian communities had seen a rise of 21% during the coronavirus crisis, whilst police estimates indicated a triple increase in hate crime towards Chinese people in the first three months of 2020 in contrast to the first three months of the year prior.

 

Lunar New Year is an important and beloved celebration dating back thousands of years in Chinese history. This year, it was celebrated by people of ESEA descent in the context of rising anti- Asian racism in both the US & the UK.

 

On the 12th of February, Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a video sending his best wishes to those celebrating Chinese New Year in Britain, where he acknowledged that festivities would look different this year given the national lockdown.

 

However, the response from one too  many members of the British public demonstrates the ignorance around the way in which this pandemic unfolded and it needs to be addressed. 

 

Some responses to the video, made by users on both Facebook & Instagram, include ‘but they gave us coronavirus’ and ‘they don’t deserve anything after causing chaos last year’.

 

Make no mistake; responses like these scapegoating China / Chinese people, can be directly linked to the likes of former US President Donald Trump and British Politician Nigel farage, constantly & irresponsibly referring to Covid- 19 as the ‘China virus’. 

 

As mentioned on a viral post by @/dearasianyouthlondon (Instagram), regarding the matters of anti- Asian racism amid the pandemic and Lunar New Year, 

 

‘Sentiments that claim a link between the celebration of a critical piece of our culture- one deeply linked to our history, cultural identity, and innate sense of belonging- to why the British people are currently in lockdown after 11 months of incompetency, are a reflection of pernicious intentions to generalise, scapegoat and alienate’.

 

To show your support and find out more about this issue, check out the #stoptheasianhate on all the biggest social media platforms, and use your platform to raise awareness- don’t stay silent about this!