Chinese diplomats in London have urged Britain to reconsider advice to UK nationals to leave China because of coronavirus, warning against any "overreaction" to the epidemic.

Liu Xiaoming, the ambassador, also revealed that cases of discrimination towards Chinese people in the UK - including at primary and middle schools - following the outbreak of the disease have been reported to the British government and the police.

He used a news conference at the embassy on Thursday to insist the whole of China was mobilised to combat the virus, which has killed more than 500 people on the mainland and prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a global health emergency.

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"On the whole, the epidemic is preventable, controllable and curable," Ambassador Liu said.

"Currently in China the number of cured cases is rising and we are fully confident in defeating the virus."


But he was critical of countries such as Britain that have chosen to advise its nationals to leave mainland China, noting that this went against the head of the WHO's own advice.

Three people have so far tested positive for coronavirus in the UK.

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His criticism of the UK government was muted though, with the ambassador stressing repeatedly what he said was a very good and open channel of communication at all levels between the two countries.

This was in contrast to his rebukes of Britain in the past over its comments about the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

On coronavirus, he said British officials had praised Chinese efforts to contain the spread of the disease and agreed to follow WHO advice on travel.

Image: Women wear face masks in London

However, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office subsequently urged all British nationals in the country, who were able to, to leave

"It seems to me the facts are not entirely square, the words do not match with the deeds," Ambassador Liu said.

"I say again, in private and public, I hope the British government and British public should take an objective and cool-headed view of what is going on in China."

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Asked if he had formally or informally approached the Foreign Office to ask it to review the China travel advice, the diplomat said: "Yes… we think overreaction is not helpful. We asked them to take advice of WHO to make a reasonable response, do not overreact."

He was also asked for his thoughts on reports of a rise in hate crimes against Chinese nationals living in the UK in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

"There are some cases of hatred, discrimination against Chinese nationals," he said.

"We have raised these issues with the British government and the police."

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The embassy has issued advice to Chinese nationals in Britain and those visiting about the potential for insults and discrimination, the ambassador said.

He urged anyone who suffers such treatment to report it to the police and to contact the embassy for support.

The top diplomat said, though, that in general the British public was very supportive of Chinese nationals and China's plight.

He even played a montage of video messages of support from school children in the UK to China.

The ambassador said the abuse suffered by Chinese nationals was in part caused by what he described as mis-reporting in some parts of the media about the coronavirus.

Image: Two people who tested positive for coronavirus were staying at the Staycity hotel in York

He said: "At a crisis like this countries should stand together, we have a common enemy, we should say no to discriminatory words and behaviours."

The comments came after Mr Johnson's government risked damaging its key relationship with the United States last week by deciding to allow the Chinese technology company Huawei to play a part in Britain's next generation 5G communications network.

The move came despite intense lobbying by Washington to keep Huawei out.