中国でコロナめぐる差別、アフリカ諸国が猛反発「容認できない」

【アブジャＡＦＰ＝時事】新型コロナウイルスのパンデミック（世界的な大流行）をめぐり、中国でアフリカ人らがレッテルを貼られたり差別されたりしている問題を受けて、アフリカ諸国が猛反発している。（写真は資料写真）
　この問題の引き金になったのは、広東省広州にあるナイジェリア人が多く住む地区で、新型コロナウイルス感染症（ＣＯＶＩＤ-１９）のクラスター（感染者の集団）が発生したことだとみられている。
　アフリカ系住民らはレストランやホテルで差別され、強制的な退去や集団検査、恣意（しい）的な隔離などの対象になっていると訴えている。
　ナイジェリアのジオフリー・オンエアマ外相は１４日、周平剣駐ナイジェリア中国大使に対し、「われわれは身の回りの物を持って、路上で寝起きしているナイジェリア人の映像を見た。もちろん、本国にいる私たちにとって痛ましくてならないものだ」と伝えた。さらに、ナイジェリア政府および国民はこうした状況を「容認できない」と述べ、中国当局に直ちに対処するよう要求した。
　アフリカ連合（ＡＵ）も１１日、広州の状況に「極めて強い懸念」を表明し、中国政府に対して直ちに是正措置を取るよう求めた。
　外交筋によると、アフリカの約２０か国が、アフリカ人に的を絞った集団検査や隔離措置は「人種差別」に等しいとして、中国政府に抗議する共同書簡を作成している。「口上書」と呼ばれる外交文書の形式で作成された草案には、こうした措置は「明らかな人権侵害」だと書かれているという。

■人種差別問題
　人口１５００万を抱える広州の市当局は、新型コロナウイルス感染症と診断された少なくとも８人が「リトルアフリカ」と呼ばれる越秀区に滞在していたと発表している。
　うち５人がナイジェリア人で、隔離義務を破り、自宅にとどまらずレストラン８軒やその他の公共施設を訪れていたと報じられ、中国で大きな怒りが広がった。
　ＡＦＰの取材に応じた複数のアフリカ人は、住んでいた家を強制的に退去させられ、ホテルからも宿泊を拒否されていると語った。うち一人は、橋の下で４日間寝起きし、どの店に行っても食料を売ってもらえないと訴えた。
　国際社会の圧力が強まる中、中国外務省は１２日に声明を発表し、中国は「外国人の生活と健康を非常に重視」しており、人種差別や差別発言は一切容認しないと述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/04/16-10:04）

African countries are seething over accounts that Africans are battling stigma and discrimination in China over the coronavirus pandemic, apparently linked to a cluster of cases in the Nigerian community in the southern city of Guangzhou.
The African residents say they have suffered forced evictions, arbitrary quarantines and mass coronavirus tests and face discrimination in restaurants and hotels.
We saw images of Nigerians in the streets with their possessions and this was of course extremely distressing for us at home, Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama told Chinese ambassador Zhou Pingjian on Tuesday.
He said the situation was unacceptable to Nigeria's government and people, and demanded immediate action from the Chinese authorities.
The African Union on Saturday expressed its extreme concern about the situation in Guanghzou and called on Beijing to take immediate corrective measures.
The controversy coincides with a Chinese charm offensive in Africa.
Diplomats said around 20 African countries are drawing up a joint letter to Beijing to say that mass virus tests and quarantines imposed specifically on Africans amount to racism.
The draft letter, a form of diplomatic correspondence called a note verbale, describes this as a clear violation of human rights, the sources say.
- Racism issue -
Local authorities in Guangzhou, a city of 15 million, said at least eight people diagnosed with coronavirus had spent time in the city's Yuexiu district, known as Little Africa.
Five were Nigerian nationals who sparked widespread anger after reports surfaced that they had broken a mandatory quarantine and been to eight restaurants and other public places instead of staying home.
Several Africans told AFP they had been forcibly evicted from their homes and turned away by hotels. One said he had been sleeping under a bridge for four days and could not find a store that would allow him to buy food.
On Sunday, as international pressure mounted, the foreign ministry in Beijing issued a statement saying the country attached great importance to the life and health of foreign nationals and rejected all racist and discriminatory remarks.
The US fast-food chain McDonald's apologised after a sign in one of its restaurants in Guangzhou told black people they were banned from entering.
- Embarrassment -
The global pandemic was caused by a novel form of coronavirus that scientists say leapt the species barrier to humans through a live animal market in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
China has reacted furiously to any references that it says could spur xenophobia because of the virus's origins.
In the context of Africa, the affair is diplomatically embarrassing for China, as it has sent doctors, medical equipment and other help to impoverished countries in Africa imperilled by the virus.
The hugely appreciated gestures include a team of 15 doctors who arrived in Abuja last week aboard a plane filled with anti-coronavirus gear including a consignment of 50,000 masks and 11,000 rubber gloves that landed Tuesday morning in South Africa, the continent's worst-hit country.
The United States in recent years has seen its clout in Africa wane as China has thrown open the credit spigot, providing billions in loans for Chinese-made infrastructure projects.
Washington has been quick to point the finger in the latest storm.
The abuse and mistreatment of Africans living and working in China is a sad reminder of how hollow the PRC-Africa partnership really is, a State Department spokesperson said on Saturday, using the acronym for the People's Republic of China.
At a time when we should be supporting one another to recover from a pandemic, PRC officials recklessly hid from the world, Chinese officials are busy evicting African students into the streets without food or shelter.