Chinese claims that Australia has become more racist since coronavirus have been shut down and branded ‘entirely false’.
In a shocking move on Friday, the Chinese tourism ministry said citizens should avoid holidaying in Australia because people were ‘racist’.
‘Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, racial discrimination and violence against Chinese and Asian people in Australia have seen a significant increase,’ the statement said.
‘The Ministry of Culture and Tourism reminds Chinese tourists to enhance their safety awareness and do not travel to Australia.’
But Australia’s Trade and Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham, along with deputy prime minister Michael McCormark on Saturday slammed the claims.
The Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism said in a statement on Friday that ‘Asian people’ were being targeted with racism (pictured, commuters in Beijing on May 18)
Australian Trade Minister Simon Birmingham (pictured) slammed the claims as having ‘no basis in fact’
‘We reject China’s assertions in this statement, which have no basis in fact,’ Senator Birmingham told AAP.
‘Our rejection of these claims, which have been falsely made by Chinese officials previously, is well known to them.’
Mr Birmingham said the decision to close Australia’s borders with China during the height of the pandemic was not easy.
‘This decision was criticised by the Chinese Government at the time, but it proved to be a critical decision in keeping Australians safe from the devastation faced by much of the rest of the world,’ he said.
Mr McCormack also rejected China’s claims, saying he didn’t know where they came from.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism told tourists not to visit Australia (pictured, president Xi Jinping)
‘There hasn’t been a wave of outbreaks of violence against Chinese people. I don’t know why this has been stated,’ he said.
‘All I can say is the statement is not true.
‘People from China know that this is a great country to come and visit.
‘We want people from China, from anywhere in the world, to come and experience Australia.’
The claims come after a string of racist behaviour was seen against people of Asian appearance during the outbreak of COVID-19.
Sophie (pictured, left, with sister Rosa) were alleged subject to a racist attack in the street in Sydney
A man was seen cracking a whip after exploding into a racist tirade outside the Chinese Consulate in Sydney
One man was captured in footage cracking a whip outside the Chinese Embassy in Sydney in April and hurling racist remarks at people lining up outside.
The racial tirade went on for several minutes with the man claiming the Chinese ‘deliberately released coronavirus’.
‘We know it’s deliberate. Five million people left your country and spread that filthy f***king disease worldwide,’ he said.
On another occasion two sisters were allegedly abused and spat on by a teenager in Sydney’s inner west.
Sophie Do, 23, and her sister Rosa, 19, were allegedly called ‘Asian dogs’ and a ‘dumb wh***’ as they crossed the street and were told they ‘brought corona here’.
A Filipino family living in Port Macquarie, on the New South Wales north coast, was delivered a hate-filled letter telling them to leave the country
Asian families have also had racist slurs painted outside their homes and in one instance on their garage.
One road in Epping, Sydney was sprayed with graffiti outside a home near an Asian family reading: ‘Death to dog eaters’.
A Melbourne garage belonging to a Chinese family was later covered in the offensive words: ‘Covid-19 China die’
Australia and China have also been in recent tensions with each other after Australia pushed for an inquiry into the origins of coronavirus.
Racist vandals spray painted ‘COVID-19 China die’ on the family’s home in Knoxfield in Melbourne’s east
Daniel Palmer, a designer and developer, shared the images of the graffiti that read ‘death to dog eaters’ on his street in Epping, 18km north-west of Sydney’s CBD, on Monday