Chinese businessmen make videos insulting blacks, leading to diplomatic fallout

In a short video, a group of African children in red shirts and shorts gladly looked at the camera and chanted in Chinese. “I’m a black monster with a low IQ. Yeah!” They repeated these words with joy and enthusiasm, but apparently they didn’t understand what they were saying. The video was uploaded to Douyin, a video platform in China, in February 2020. Who made it and why?

After more than a year of research, BBC reporters claim that a Chinese man named Lu Ke paid a small “salary” to these African children to make a short video that mocked blacks. , Then sold the video on an online platform in China.

Lu, who was wanted by Malawi police, was arrested in Zambia on June 20, and Malawi authorities are about to hand him over.

Communist Party China Trends

Since 2015, greeting videos involving Chinese-speaking blacks have become a trend in China, new businesses and even the industry. These short videos can be sold online in China and range from $ 10 to $ 70 per video. Usually, some blacks wear certain costumes and carry a blackboard with Chinese phrases. Sometimes they sang and danced while chanting Chinese phrases. However, not all such videos were in good faith.

Luna Coselina, a BBC Africa Eye Reporter who once lived in China and speaks Chinese, Indignation When she watched a video of children chanting “I’m a black monster with a low IQ.” She worked with Malawi journalist Henry Mango to track down the person responsible for the video.

Serena studied and lived in China for 6 years. She sees China as her second home.

Determining where the video was shot was a daunting task. Africa is a vast continent and similar scenes can be found everywhere. Serena noticed that videos featuring black children were released primarily from two Douyin accounts. The two reporters checked the videos one by one. After watching hundreds of videos, they finally found an important clue. It’s a builder sign in an unobtrusive position in the video scene. She called to confirm the location of the sign. It was located in Newa, a village near Lilongwe, the capital of the Republic of Malawi.

Located in southeastern Africa between Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique, Malawi was once rated by the United Nations as one of the least developed countries in the world.

In another video, Serena also saw a Chinese ID card bearing the name “LuKe”. She guessed it was the cameraman’s name. She later discovered that Lu Ke had 14 “friends” on her Facebook account. One of them is Swedish TV journalist Johan Ripas. Later, she told Serena that she interviewed Lou Ke in 2017 when she went to Malawi to report on the trade between China and Malawi.

The location is basically confirmed. Serena and Mango headed straight for the village of Nyewa.

They learned from the villagers that a Chinese man called Susu, who means uncle in Chinese in the community, declared that he wanted to bring Chinese culture to his hometown and teach local children basic Chinese. .. However, some villagers pointed out that a few years later, these children learned only a few Chinese phrases. Regarding Lou’s filming, most of the villagers have the impression that he may want to send these films to a particular agency in China to help them get more supplies and poverty alleviation aid. I received it.

Serena also learned that Lou pays each child 50 cents for a day’s shoot.

Another BBC undercover reporter, the Chinese, was able to chat directly with Lu. According to Lou, his best record was shooting 380 movies a day, and he was able to sell for 200 yuan (about $ 30) per movie.

“Don’t let black people see”

When a secret BBC reporter specifically asked about the “low IQ” video, Lu’s first reaction was “Yes! Did!” But after a few seconds of rest, he suddenly changed songs and was already back in China. Said it was taken by his friend who was. Lou also wanted the reporter to remove this video from his cell phone. “Don’t let the blacks look, or you’ll be attacked.” During the conversation, Lou didn’t mind hiding his strong contempt for the blacks.

In the movie he released, a cute little black boy was clearly Lou’s star performer. Serena, now 6 years old, found this kid whose name is Bright. Bright said he was only four years old when he started making videos. He also revealed that when he made a mistake, “Susu” would pinch him or hit him with a stock and not let him go home. Bright’s mother expressed her sorrow in the suffering of her child.

At the final stage, Serena and local reporter Mange decide to meet Lou in person. Lou denied all the questions raised by Serena. However, during the showdown, he mistakenly rephrased the word “black monster.”

The entire story was published in “Africa Eye: Racism for sale”. BBC documentary Released on June 20th, it has become an international headline.

Malawi people are indignant. Local police immediately began an investigation, and Foreign Minister Nancy Tembo said on Twitter that her compatriots felt “sick, despised, and terribly suffering.”

BBC News We are fed up, despised and deeply distressed about the African research documentary “Racism”.

I tackled the problem during today #GovernmentFacesThePress Session in Lilongwe.

See the short video clip below for more information. # Malawi pic.twitter.com/4F2rPaQRfS

— Nancy Tembo, MP. (@Nancygtembo) June 13, 2022

Sylvester Namiwa, executive director of the Center for Democratic Economic Development in Malawi, said these videos are insulting not only to Malawi people, but to blacks around the world.

“We also [the] The Chinese embassy has made a public apology to all people in Malawi and the black community around the world, “Namiwa said. “Otherwise we will be forced to mobilize Malawi people for endless and peaceful demonstrations.”

Under public pressure, the Chinese embassy in Malawi responded in a series of tweets from June 14-18, expressing deep concern, condemning racism and emphasizing “zero tolerance” against racism. did. The embassy also promised to work closely with Malawi to properly resolve the issue.

In fact, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Malawi just signed the “Belt and Road Initiative” agreement in March this year.

Arrested in Zambia

Immediately after the documentary aired, Lou, who the Malawi police wanted, disappeared. After that, the content of his Douyin account was emptied and his Facebook account was also renamed. It was later confirmed that he was identified and arrested in Zambia.

“He was arrested in Chipata, Zambia after fleeing the country on an unknown route,” Malawi immigrant spokesman Pascary Zulu told AFP.

Malawi is expected to seek the surrender of LuKe. “We want him to be tried in Malawi,” said police spokesman Harry Namwaza.

Regarding the Chinese embassy’s “zero tolerance” promise, current issue commentator Dr. Yang Guiyuan told The Epoch Times that the Chinese government is only trying to mitigate the current turmoil.

“It’s such a viral video. Why doesn’t the administration’s Internet police know about it?” Yang asked. “If it really was’Zero Tolerance’, it would have been removed long ago.

“How does the Chinese Communist Party deal with Xinjiang, Tibet and Inner Mongolia? Who are the Communist Party members who have made progress to stop discrimination against these ethnic groups?

“As the Chinese saying goes, if the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam is bent. It is just such an evil influence that some Chinese people tend to bully weak and less privileged groups. It is in. “

The Epoch Times reporter Ellen Wang contributed to this report.