A Chinese Man Was Deported From Kenya For Calling Kenyans And Their President 'Monkeys'
A video of his racist rant went viral, igniting outrage across Kenya.
By Sadho Ram — 09 Sep 2018, 04:54 PM
Earlier this week, a Chinese man was deported from Kenya after he was seen in a video making racist comments against Kenyans
Identified as Liu Jiaqi, the Chinese national was captured in a video calling all Kenyans, including President Uhuru Kenyatta, "monkeys".
"Everyone... all the Kenyans [are] like a monkey, even Uhuru Kenyatta," Liu is seen in a video telling a Kenyan employee whom he is threatening to fire.
"I don't like you, like monkey people, you smell bad, and poor, foolish, and black," Liu continues in the video clip, which was leaked online on Wednesday.
According to a report in BBC, which cited the Chinese embassy saying that the video was originally shot in June this year
In the video, which is about three-minute-long, the employee asks Liu why is he targeting him, to which the Chinese national says it's because the employee is Kenyan.
Liu went on to his offensive diatribe, bragging that there is nothing the poor, black, and smelly Kenyans can do to him even if he sacks the said employee.
According to the Chinese Embassy in Nairobi, the video was captured in June at the shop in Ruiru where the Chinese national sold motorcycles.
Liu was arrested on 6 September and his work permit was revoked
Following which, Kenya's immigration department announced that Liu had been deported due to his racist remarks. However, according to BBC, it is unclear whether the immigration department can deport someone on grounds of racism.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Embassy has distanced itself from Liu's comments, saying his views do not represent the views of the majority of Chinese people. It added that Liu was punished.
Nairobi's Chinese embassy spokesperson, Zhang Gang, said Liu has been punished by his company for his wrongdoing and "apologised to his Kenyan colleague".
"The personal talk and personal feeling of this young man do not represent the views of the vast majority of Chinese people," he added.
However, according to the employee who recorded the video, Liu's remarks were nothing out of the ordinary at the Chinese-owned motorcycle dealership, where majority of Chinese employees insult Kenyans regularly and they only keep quiet to maintain their jobs
"The company has about 8 Chinese and 12 Kenyans and all the Chinese here are our bosses and we do not know who is the overall boss.
"Insults here are a common occurrence and we just persevere to keep our jobs," the Kenyan employee told a local media in Kenya, Ureport.
The news of his deportation has not calmed the situation in Kenya as netizens pointed out that he should instead be jailed in Kenya
A Twitter user identified as Mark Cuban said Liu should first meet the wrath of Kenyans before being deported.
"We want to meet him and have a little chat about his experience in Kenya," he said.
Another user named George Kingola questioned why the government was deporting Liu instead of prosecuting him for a crime committed within Kenya's territory.
While not the first time that people from China have been accused of racism, it is the first case of someone being deported for racism