While it’s unclear when they’ll be able to go back to their apartments, Africans in Guangzhou can at least find refuge again in McDonald’s.

McDonald’s China has confirmed that an African man was indeed given a notice telling him that he was not allowed to enter one of their locations in Guangzhou when he came in to buy himself a meal.

In a statement sent to Shanghaiist, the company apologized for the incident, said that it had ordered the restaurant to “stop immediately such actions,” and explained that it had closed the location for half the day on Sunday to conduct training programs on “Diversity and Inclusion.”

“A mandatory training for all McDonald’s China employees and crew members is also in progress to ensure those values will be implemented and such an occurrence will be prevented from happening again,” the statement added.

“Currently, all customers are welcome to all our restaurants after body temperature check-up with health QR code issued by the local government.”

The company’s statement failed to explain the source of the notice. It read:

We’ve been informed that from now on black people are not allowed to enter the restaurant. For the sake of your health consciously notify the local police for medical isolation, please understand the inconvenience caused. police TEL:110

Again, for those who still doubt that Black people and particularly #AfricansinChina are being targeted we feel it is our duty to share this. A sign at a @McDonalds restaurant seems to make this perfectly clear pic.twitter.com/FaveKrdQHi — Black Livity China (@BlackLivityCN) April 11, 2020

Amid online reports of Africans in Guangzhou being kicked out of their apartments and hotel rooms and being turned away from restaurants, convenience stores, and other retail shops over renewed coronavirus fears, Chinese officials have repeatedly claimed that there is no systemic discrimination at work in the city.

However, these assurances haven’t yet satisfied the growing outrage back in Africa where Chinese diplomats have been called in to offer explanations to government officials.

On Sunday, China Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian again attempted to quell the anger, declaring that Chinese people and African people are “partners and brothers through thick and thin” and that China-Africa friendship is deeply-rooted and “unbreakable.”

More videos from China, watch how Chinese police are dehumanizing Nigerians in China. What is the @NigeriaGov doing about this? #ChinaMustExplain cc: @vwang3 @Un pic.twitter.com/wRoAR8AYjw — Olúyẹmí Fásípè 🇳🇬 (@YemieFash) April 9, 2020

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