Sinophobia: How a virus reveals the many ways China is feared Sammi Yang first realised something wasn't right when she showed up at her doctor's in Berlin, and was immediately barred from entering the building. Other patients were buzzed in through the clinic's door, while Ms Yang, a make-up artist from China, had to wait outside in the January cold. Eventually her doctor emerged. Her first words were: "This isn't personal but..." "Then she said: 'We are not taking any Chinese patients now because of this Chinese virus'," Ms Yang told the BBC. "I had no chance to explain myself and say that I was healthy." She had not travelled to China recently either. In the weeks since the virus spread around the world, multiple accounts of discrimination against Chinese nationals or anyone who looks East Asian have emerged, including from Asia and Chinese-majority societies. Even as sympathy has grown for the Chinese victi...
