The Covid 19 pandemic has brought an increase in racism against Asians. This is due in part to the fact that the virus was first identified in Wuhan, China, and subsequently named “Chinese virus” by some politicians and media outlets. It’s not just the Chinese who were targeted but also people from countries like Korea and Singapore faced the same.

In the early phase of the pandemic (march 2020), a Singaporean international student in the United Kingdom was physically assaulted in central London. Similarly, a Vietnamese in London was dropped from an art exhibition, having been told that her presence alone would increase anxiety among those attending the event.

Anti-Asian sentiments have manifested in various forms, including verbal harassment, physical assault, and discriminatory policies. The Asian American and pacific islander (AAPI) community has been particularly affected, with a significant increase in hate crimes reported since the start of the pandemic. some people have falsely attributed the virus to Asian people or assumed that all Asians are carriers of the virus. This has led to a general sense of fear and suspicion towards Asian individuals, regardless of whether they have a connection to the virus.

The pew research centre found that 58% of Asian Americans reported that it has become more common for people to express racist or racially insensitive views about Asians than before the coronavirus outbreak. Three in 10 Asian American adults have been subject to slurs or jokes because of their race or ethnicity since the outbreak began. Asian Americans have experienced hate crimes and harassment (hate crime is defined as crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based on race, gender and gender identity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity.) Global societal sentiments toward Asians across 20 countries have become more negative month by month from before the pandemic (October 2019) to May 2020, as well as the pandemic and cultural predictors of this trend. Light (a company that detects and removes online toxicity) found a 900% growth in hate speech towards Asians on Twitter.