China’s education ministry has warned Chinese students to consider whether to study in Australia, amid escalating tensions between Beijing and Canberra.
The Ministry warned that there have been multiple cases of racial incidents targeting Asians in Australia amid the COVID-19 epidemic.
“Multiple discriminatory events against Asians happened in Australia during the epidemic outbreak,” the Ministry said in a statement published to its website today.
It urged students studying overseas to make a thorough risk assessment and to be “cautious” when choosing Australia as a destination.
The warning follows the issuing of a travel warning to Australia for Chinese tourists on Friday.
A spokeswoman for China’s minister of culture, Hua Chunying, defended the call at a press conference yesterday, accusing Australian politicians of “ignoring rampant racist abuse”.
“For example, some Australian politicians and media called the coronavirus a ‘Chinese virus’ and maliciously tampered with the Chinese national flag and national emblem,” she is quoted as saying in government-controlled publication The Global Times.