A major Chinese airline is being called out for extremely racist content in one of its in-flight magazines.
The latest issue of “Wings of China,” an in-flight magazine distributed on Air China flights to London, encouraged tourists to avoid minority areas populated by “Indians, Pakistanis, and black people,” reports CNBC.
A feature article on London in this issue of “Wings of China” featured a “Tips from Air China” section, and the tips were quite racist.
“London is generally a safe place to travel, however precautions are needed when entering areas mainly populated by Indians, Pakistanis, and black people. We advise tourists not to go out alone at night, and females always to be accompanied by another person when traveling.”
“I am shocked and appalled that even today some people would see it as acceptable to write such blatantly untrue and racist statements,” Labor MP for Ealing Southall Virendra Sharma said in response to the article, according to BBC.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s parents are Pakistani, and he is a resident of Tooting, an Indian-Pakistani neighborhood in South London, explained CNBC.
Air China Media, which publishes “Wings of China,” apologized, stating that it did not intend to make “passengers feel uncomfortable”, reports BBC.
“This inappropriate description was purely a work mistake of the editors and it’s not the magazine’s views. We will immediately recall this entire issue of magazines and draw lessons from this incident.”
Air China has reportedly removed all copies of the latest issue of “Wings of China” from their flights. Furthermore, all future content will be thoroughly investigated.
While Air China has received a significant amount of criticism abroad, there was a strong outpouring of support for the airline on Chinese social media.
“Was Air China out of line for telling us the truth?” asked one Chinese netizen. “I full support Air China’s decision,” said another. Many netizens criticized CNBC reporter Haze Fan for bringing the issue to light. Others expressed outrage over Western attempts to “blacken China’s image.”
“In Western countries, there are clear boundaries when it concerns minorities and religion, but Chinese society doesn’t take ethnic minority issues seriously. Ordinary Chinese people usually have racially discriminatory views … Such as Chinese people don’t like black people, who are regarded as dirty and dangerous,” Hu Xingdou, a political science expert at Beijing Institute of Technology, told the Daily Telegraph.
Air China operates two flights daily between Beijing and London Heathrow. Around 270,000 Chinese tourists visited London last year; this figure is up 46% over that of the previous year. Chinese tourists spent roughly $716 million in London last year.
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