A full Breakdown of China’s bigotry.
Though the lifeblood of the economy, China detains African businesspeople.
China has a long history of racism and xenophobia tracing back millennia. The Chinese have an unofficial policy of targeting and oppressing any non-“Han” Chinese – Han, meaning “Very Chinese.” Essentially, not having the typical Chinese phenotype recognized as someone originally from China often results in brutal and harsh punishment at the hands of its people and totalitarian government. An example of this oppression can easily be spotted in how they treat the Uighur peoples in Northern China—denying them passports, visas, and detaining them in “camps” for arbitrary reasons.
As we have seen recently in the southern city of Guangzhou, the Chinese have set their sights, implementing their tactics of deprivation and confinement on the African community.
The Chinese government has been rounding up Africans in Guangzhou. They have been forcefully removing Africans from their homes, testing them for Covid-19 and quarantining them even when testing negative for the Virus. For those who have finished their two-week quarantine, apartments are refusing re-entry, and many hotels are denying reservations, resulting in Africans sleeping on the streets. Food establishments are denying service; even the ability to purchase potable drinking water is becoming a luxury.
Guangzhou, Capital city of the province Guangdong, located near the South China Sea, boasts a population of over 22 million people, has a small though robust African community. The area in which the African Diaspora live is referred to by the Chinese as “Chocolate City” on account of the colour of its inhabitants.
“Most of the African Brothers are here for business,” says Ifa Olu, a Nigerian businessman in Guangzhou.
“There are business opportunities. Cheaper products. Ranging from clothing, electronics, furniture. You name it. We come with cash for manufactures and ship the products back to Africa and different parts of the world. We contribute a lot to the economy.” Said Olu
The way it works.
China has some of the world’s cheapest labour and manufacturing cost, which gives them an advantage over other nations. Known as “buying trips,” African merchants rely on others from the diaspora who live in China and speak the local language as liaisons to the large manufactures. The merchants purchase container loads of various products and ship them globally to local wholesalers, who, in turn, sell the products in their local markets.
Walking down the streets of Tong Tong -the market area- you will notice countless shipping, cargo, and logistic companies operating almost exclusively off the strength of African merchants transporting Chinese made goods around the world. Our producer spoke to a Nigerian delegate in Guangzhou who said that China receives over $30 million US a month remittance from African tradesman.
So what’s the problem?
Regardless of China’s dependence on African businesspeople to sustain the local Guangzhou economy, the Chinese government and much of its citizens have deep-rooted anti-Black sentiments.
It starts with the Visa says Olu.
“When Africans come to China, it’s difficult to extend your Visa. They will give you a three month Visa. Within that three months, you must spend 30 days initially to conduct your business, but if you didn’t finish your shipping and want to extend your passport, you will find it very difficult to extend it.” That’s why at the end of the day, you will find most of our African Brothers becoming illegal. That’s when they call you a “Sampa.”
The word “Sampa” is a derogatory Chinese term meaning illegals. To not become a Sampa, African merchants must leave China every 30 days to get their Visa renewed. The process involves, travel to neighbouring Hong Kong or Macau and staying at a hotel for a night before returning to China. The expense for this is quite significant and hinders their ability to stay in China to conduct business.
Olu explains its not just the Chinese government that holds anti-Black hostilities. He says it’s also the Chinese citizens and furthers this by saying their racism is not new.
“It didn’t start from today. It’s been going on for some time. Back in the ’90s, when you go on the bus, the Chinese will cover their nose when they see you. That’s what they do right from the beginning. But it’s just toward the Black People.”
The Chinese governments’ justification for targeting Africans goes back to a single case of an African contracting Covid-19 in mid-March and travelling to China.
However, that excuss does not sit well with Olu, and he believes this is China’s way of covering up the Virus and using Black people as the face of Covid-19.
“Everyone knows the Coronavirus started right in China, so I see no reason why they are putting the blame on the Black people. It’s like they are saying we are importing the Virus back to China. They are using that to forcefully test and quartine us.”
China for decades has been in Africa, exploiting the people and extracting the continent’s resources. There have been a plethora of accounts of Chinese nationals beating Africans on street corners and running roughshod over their industries. To date, there have been no calls to expel Chinese nationals from Africa.
We asked Olu what the larger diaspora can do to help in this perilous time. Olu says the anti-Black racism in China is widespread, though the first step would be advocating for a change in China’s visa policy.