Covid-19, the Chinese diaspora, and the enduring legacy of racism in Peru

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed a global tendency throughout history to blame immigrants for propagating epidemics. Chinese individuals were thus targeted during past public health crises in Peru, but during the current coronavirus pandemic racist notions painting people of Chinese descent as “agents of contagion” diminished significantly. Here we examine three major epidemics (yellow fever, the bubonic plague, and covid-19) to demonstrate the current and somewhat surprising shift in negative attitudes toward the Chinese community. Peruvians’ refusal to embrace derogatory terms (the “Chinese virus”) or target individuals of Asian descent constitutes an intriguing case at a moment when xenophobic discourse is rampant in the Western hemisphere.

Dissemination of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Latin America and the Caribbean: the Cases of Peru, Chile, and Cuba

“…In multiple cities and countries, the authorities and the press targeted Chinese immigrants, blaming them for spreading the disease based on the prejudices surrounding their cultural habits and dietary preferences. 30,31 The epidemic revealed the local population’s widespread racism toward the Chinese. For instance, Peruvian health authorities began to refer to the 1903 bubonic plague as “the Asian scourge”.…”

Creating Peru’s patient zero: pandemic narratives through traditional and social media

“…In Peru, xenophobic attacks were limited to messages replicated by small radical groups rather than the general population or authorities. According to Ragas and Palma (2022), the collaboration of the Chinese government in controlling the pandemic was seen in Peru as positive and may have helped to limit the attacks on Asian communities.…”

A pandemia de covid-19 e a mobilidade internacional no Brasil: desafios para a saúde e proteção social de migrantes internacionais em tempos de incertezas

“…Apesar da forte expressão de uma opinião pública que responsabilizou os trabalhadores informais (nacionais e estrangeiros) que representavam cerca 72% da força de trabalho, o país foi envolvido por medidas sanitárias precocemente implementadas, como a quarentena, por exemplo, e promoveu articulações internacionais com a República Popular da China, diferentemente dos demais países da região da América do Sul. Com isso, uma nova configuração geopolítica emergiu dessa articulação binacional, que incluiu remessas de insumos para a saúde pública peruana, particularmente a vacina desenvolvida pelos chineses (Ragas, Palma, 2022).…”