{"id":30269,"date":"2020-03-18T14:18:04","date_gmt":"2020-03-18T14:18:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.englishforums.com\/news\/?p=30269"},"modified":"2020-03-18T14:18:04","modified_gmt":"2020-03-18T14:18:04","slug":"chinese-international-students-flee-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/chinese-international-students-flee-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese international students fleeing the UK amidst "maskaphobia""},"content":{"rendered":"

Chinese international students<\/span> in<\/span> UK<\/span> institutions<\/span> are<\/span> flying<\/span> home<\/span> amidst<\/span> racial<\/span> profiled<\/span> attacks<\/span> alias<\/span> maska<\/span>phobia<\/span><\/a>.<\/strong>
\nSome<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> students<\/span> have<\/span> already<\/span> fled<\/span> back<\/span> to<\/span> China<\/span> with<\/span> others<\/span> trying<\/span> to<\/span> secure<\/span> flights<\/span> which<\/span> have<\/span> reduced<\/span> dismally<\/span> all<\/span> the<\/span> same<\/span> charging<\/span> inflated<\/span> prices<\/span>. Some<\/span> learners<\/span> are<\/span> opting<\/span> to<\/span> book<\/span> services<\/span> of<\/span> jets<\/span> to<\/span> fly<\/span> to<\/span> China<\/span>.
\nTao<\/span> Wang<\/span>, a<\/span> Ph.D.<\/span> student<\/span> from<\/span> Manchester<\/span> says<\/span> he<\/span> is<\/span> in<\/span> disbelief<\/span> on<\/span> how<\/span> hard<\/span> the<\/span> United<\/span> Kingdom<\/span> has<\/span> been<\/span> hit<\/span> by<\/span> Covid<\/span>–19<\/span>. Tao<\/span> says<\/span> that<\/span> Chinese<\/span> international student<\/span> groups<\/span> in<\/span> Europe<\/span> now<\/span> believe<\/span> they<\/span> could<\/span> be<\/span> much<\/span> safer<\/span> at<\/span> home<\/span> than<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> United<\/span> Kingdom<\/span>, with<\/span> their<\/span> families<\/span> piling<\/span> pressure<\/span> on<\/span> them<\/span> to<\/span> go<\/span> back<\/span> home<\/span>.
\nAccording<\/span> to<\/span> Wang<\/span>, despite<\/span> the<\/span> huge<\/span> outbreak<\/span> of<\/span> Coronavirus<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> UK<\/span>, the<\/span> government<\/span> is<\/span> yet<\/span> to<\/span> instill<\/span> draconian<\/span> measures<\/span>, with<\/span> only<\/span> soft<\/span> measures<\/span> like<\/span> asking<\/span> washing<\/span> of<\/span> hands<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Racial attacks on Chinese international students for wearing masks<\/h2>\n

More<\/span> Chinese<\/span> international students have<\/span> reported<\/span> racial<\/span> fueled<\/span> attacks<\/span> on<\/span> them<\/span> due<\/span> to<\/span> Coronavirus<\/span> originating<\/span> from<\/span> Chinese<\/span> Wuhan<\/span><\/a>. Yixian<\/span> Huang<\/span>, studies<\/span> sociology<\/span> at<\/span> London<\/span> University<\/span>, says<\/span> the<\/span> reported<\/span> attacks<\/span> were<\/span> in<\/span> association<\/span> with<\/span> \u201cmaska<\/span>phobia<\/span>\u201d, the<\/span> fear<\/span> of<\/span> wearing<\/span> masks<\/span> which<\/span> then<\/span> fuels<\/span> attacks<\/span> based<\/span> on<\/span> racial<\/span> profiling<\/span>.<\/strong>
\nThe<\/span> victims<\/span> were<\/span> insulted<\/span> with<\/span> names<\/span> such<\/span> as<\/span> \u2018virus<\/span>\u2019 while<\/span> being<\/span> pulled<\/span> and<\/span> shoved<\/span> for<\/span> donning<\/span> protective<\/span> masks<\/span>.
\nMost<\/span> international<\/span> students<\/span> think<\/span> that<\/span> these <\/span>masks<\/span> are<\/span> the<\/span> largest<\/span> culture<\/span> shock<\/span> that<\/span> people<\/span> are<\/span> going<\/span> through<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> UK<\/span>, and<\/span> now<\/span> they<\/span> are<\/span> left<\/span> to<\/span> grapple<\/span> with<\/span> two<\/span> nerve-wracking\u00a0options<\/span>, coronavirus<\/span> attack<\/span> and<\/span> fear<\/span> from<\/span> racial<\/span> attacks<\/span>.
\nA<\/span> 24-year-old\u00a0Chinese<\/span> postgraduate<\/span>, from<\/span> Manchester<\/span> University<\/span>, says<\/span> as<\/span> they<\/span> crisscrossed<\/span> London<\/span>, a<\/span> vehicle<\/span> pulled<\/span> over<\/span> near<\/span> them<\/span> and<\/span> the<\/span> driver<\/span> rolled<\/span> down<\/span> the<\/span> window<\/span>, coughed<\/span> at<\/span> them<\/span>, and<\/span> laughed<\/span> as<\/span> he<\/span> sped<\/span> off<\/span>. Most<\/span> Chinese<\/span> international students are<\/span> facing<\/span> discrimination<\/span> which<\/span> is<\/span> negatively<\/span> impacting<\/span> their<\/span> abroad<\/span> studying<\/span> experience<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Students staying indoors for fear of racial attacks<\/h2>\n

Most<\/span> of<\/span> the Chinese international students<\/span> are<\/span> now<\/span> preferring<\/span> to<\/span> stay<\/span> indoors<\/span> and<\/span> order<\/span> online<\/span> delivery<\/span> of<\/span> food<\/span> due<\/span> to<\/span> racial<\/span> fueled<\/span> attacks<\/span> on<\/span> them<\/span> by<\/span> the<\/span> native<\/span> Londoners<\/span>. According<\/span> to<\/span> Tao<\/span> Wang<\/span>, most<\/span> Chinese<\/span> opt<\/span> to<\/span> study<\/span> abroad<\/span> in<\/span> places<\/span> like<\/span> the\u00a0United<\/span> Kingdom<\/span> because<\/span> they<\/span> believe<\/span> the<\/span> country<\/span> shares<\/span> values<\/span> of<\/span> tolerance<\/span>, diversity,<\/span> and<\/span> justice<\/span>.<\/strong> However<\/span>, in<\/span> the<\/span> wake<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> Covid<\/span>–19<\/span> pandemic<\/span>, diversity<\/span> seems<\/span> to<\/span> be<\/span> downplayed<\/span>.
\nWang<\/span> wonders<\/span> why<\/span>\u00a0Chinese <\/span>international students<\/span> would<\/span> spend<\/span> a<\/span> lot<\/span> of<\/span> money<\/span> to<\/span> travel<\/span> many<\/span> miles<\/span> away <\/span>for<\/span> study<\/span>, only<\/span> to<\/span> get<\/span> attacked<\/span> on<\/span> the<\/span> basis<\/span> of<\/span> their<\/span> race<\/span> or<\/span> wearing<\/span> a<\/span> protective<\/span> mask<\/span>.
\nFeatured image credits: The Guardian<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chinese international students in UK institutions are flying home amidst racial profiled attacks alias maskaphobia. Some of the students have already fled back to China with others trying to secure flights which have reduced dismally all the same charging inflated prices. Some learners are opting to book services of jets to fly to China. Tao […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":30275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30269"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}