Xenophobia

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Coronavirus sparks a rising tide of xenophobia worldwide

Jonathan Mok, a UCL law student originally from Singapore, was walking in London recently when he heard someone shout: “Coronavirus!” He was then attacked so brutally that he may require facial surgery. The British police are now pursuing another case in which attackers allegedly tore the clothes off a University of Glasgow PhD student from China.

As the new coronavirus spreads around the world, so do cases of xenophobia against students of Asian descent. In the Netherlands, some dormitories have been befouled with hate speech, and a Dutch student of Chinese descent has suffered knife wounds. From Australia to the US, Asian students have faced slurs, evictions and rejections from medical clinics and classes.

Cary Wu, an assistant professor in the department of sociology at Canada’s University of York, is leading new research on whether rising “anti-Asian-looking” sentiment is a result of the coronavirus outbreak specifically or rather just part of a wider strand of xenophobia in Western society.

He uses the term “anti-Asian-looking” because attack victims may not be from areas where Covid-19 originated. “There are many Asian-looking people who are native-born Canadians. And many are immigrants who are from other parts of the world,” he said. “The rise of attacks against ‘Asian-looking people’ is deeply rooted in the historical discrimination against Chinese and Asians in Western cultures and societies.”

“Since these attacks against Asian students are so common, I cannot say that Western universities are doing enough to protect Asian students,” Dr Wu said. “As public institutions, universities can do much more. During this difficult time, it becomes much more important for universities to publicly denounce xenophobia.”