Don’t antagonize Chinese people in Ghana – Ambassador Edward Boateng

Ghana’s Ambassador to China, Edward Boateng has called on Ghanaians to exercise some self-restraint as issues of alleged racist evictions and forced quarantining of blacks by Chinese officials is under control.

Over the past week, some viral videos of black people being evicted and chased out of their homes, hotels and even denied entry to supermarkets sparked outrage amongst back people globally who called for Chinese officials to provide answers.

Per accounts given by some victims, they were subjected to such treatments due to fears of a resurge of the Coronavirus since the country’s new recorded cases were imported and prevalent in blacks.

But speaking in an interaction on Eyewitness news, Ambassador Edward Boateng called for calm as he insisted that the situation has been put under control and was one caused by miscommunication.

“…I’d like to assure Ghanaians that we’re in control over the situation…and, therefore, Ghanaians should not take their anger into their own hands, we as a country have a long relationship with the Chinese and it’s not going away…The Chinese authorities have accepted where they’ve gone wrong so there’s no need to antagonize the Chinese people in Ghana…we’ve made amends and work is going on…”

In an attempt to explain what triggered the unfortunate evictions he said: “…It was the landlords who were leading the evictions, not the authorities. Now, the landlords fear that if the authorities got to know that they had rented to people without legal status, they will be in trouble. And then, communities started telling people who were living in their neighbourhoods that this person also lives here and the police will turn up. In that process, I must say that maybe some of the authorities then started implementing it in a very harsh manner. There was a backlash from some of the Ambassadors after these videos started going viral.”

“…So, as we speak, people are in quarantine, people are being taken care of, some of the people who are in their own flats alone were allowed to stay in their flats alone. I have information from some of my colleagues and compatriots in Guangzhou that they have been asked to go home. So the situation is settled,” he added.

On the issue of some Ghanaians who have requested to be brought back home as a result of such treatments, Ambassador Boateng gave assurances that the two countries are working to find ways to bring such people home.

Ambassador Edward Boateng further assured that no Ghanaian has tested positive to the novel coronavirus in China, so far.

Still on the issue of mass eviction and forced quarantine, some days ago a Ghanaian lady who resides in Dongguan recorded a video of the officials who had refused to leave even after residents had called some officials at Ghana’s Embassy to speak to them.

“They came here to take us into quarantine for 14 days, but our leaders assured us this won’t happen again from the 13th. We’ve called some officials at the embassy to speak to them, but they insist on taking us in for 14 days.”

Together with other African residents, the lady has been moved to an unknown location to begin the 14-day quarantine and is yet to communicate with friends.