'Send 'em home' coronavirus slurs no joke for councillor

Thursday, 30 January 2020

Rotorua councillor Fisher Wang says he understands the fear around the coronavirus, but is disappointed by some of the racist comments he has heard and read.

A Rotorua councillor is pushing back against racist comments being directed at Chinese people in the wake of the coronavirus scare.

The Coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, has so far killed 132 people globally and left more than 4500 sick.

Fisher Wang, at 19 Rotorua's youngest councillor, said he had read online posts and even heard suggestions in supermarkets that 'we should send them all back where they came from'.

'They're not directed towards me but to a certain group, a certain ethnicity,' he said.

The Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus originated from, is in lockdown.

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Wang's comments come in the wake of news three people from a tour group were tested at Rotorua Hospital over coronavirus fears, and a fourth person had also since been tested, though none were found to have the virus.

Wang, whose family immigrated from Taiwan more than 20 years ago, was himself subject to racist abuse when standing at the recent local body elections.

While putting up election posters, a car drove past with someone shouting at Wang that they 'were not voting for ******* Chinamen'.

Wang said he understood there was 'fear in the environment' at present over the virus 'but there should never be a place for that kind of racism and xenophobia'.

'There's people who have lived here, possibly for generations, who come under that umbrella.'

He said the majority of the comments he had seen were on social media, but he also heard concerns raised in a supermarket.

'Because we're a tourist destination why aren't we sending them back. They have casually said it, like a joke, but it's a serious matter and shouldn't be said.'