Jenny Evans via Getty Images People in Sydney's CBD are seen wearing masks on January 31, 2020 in Sydney, Australia.

Many people of Chinese ancestry living in Australia have said they have faced a wave of racism, both in person and on social media, since the coronavirus outbreak. Queensland surgeon, Dr Rhea Liang, said the “misinformation” about the virus that began in Wuhan, China, has led to racially-motivated remarks, one of which were made to her at work on Thursday. During a consultation at her clinic on the Gold Coast, the general and breast surgeon (born in New Zealand and of Chinese heritage) was taken aback by a caucasian male patient who refused to shake her hand in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

Dr Rhea Liang Queensland surgeon Dr Rhea Liang

“I was running my clinic and we had seen a patient and he came in, and it’s usual for us to shake hands with patients,” Dr Liang told HuffPost Australia. “He stuck out his hand and then made a joke, ‘I probably shouldn’t shake your hand because you might have coronavirus’. This was in front of a nurse, two medical students, and a few other people standing.”

Dr Liang said she continued the consultation as usual, but her team were “immediately supportive” afterwards, and quite shocked as well. “They were like, ‘My goodness, did you hear what he said at the beginning? I can’t believe he said that’,” she said.

Today a patient made jokes about not shaking my hand because of #coronavirus. In front of my team.



I have not left Australia. This is not sensible public health precautions. This is #racism. https://t.co/y8Odj68ovL — Rhea Liang (@LiangRhea) January 30, 2020

The medical practitioner said she believed “the misinformation that’s out there” about the disease has led to “that stereotyping of an entire group”. “There’s a perception this is a Chinese thing,” she said, adding, “the white Australian guy at the corner shop is just as much likely to have caught this thing from newly arrived people from China as I might have. “So to stereotype that only Chinese people might be exposed to it is unfair and a bit racist,” she said. “And I just thought if this is happening to me, and I’m in a position of authority – I’m a consultant on this team – I really worry about the people who are more vulnerable.”

Rachel Zhang Melbourne's Rachel Zhang

University student Rachel Zhang was born in Melbourne six years after her parents migrated to Australia from Shanghai, China. She said experiencing racism in the past means she will “never be fully welcomed in the only country that I’ve ever called home”, but “it is in moments and crises like this where it really solidifies that fear”. “Personally, it is the subtle racism of every day activities which hurt the most,” the 23-year-old told HuffPost Australia on Friday. “When I walk on the streets, I’ve seen people lock eyes with me and run across the street so that they have to come into my vicinity. The other day I was at a supermarket and I merely coughed to clear my throat and almost everyone around stared at me. I even saw one mother usher her kids away. “Whilst taking public transport to work I’ve had people give me a zone of clearing, or immediately move away as I sit down. It is gotten to the point where I am nervous for the flight I have tomorrow to Sydney, because I fear how people will treat me.” Brisbane-based writer Yen-Rong Wang also spoke about her experiences with racism in a Twitter post. “Re: racism and #coronavirus - This is the first time I’ve ever felt physically unsafe in Australia because of my race,” she wrote on Tuesday. “I thought we were over this shit but obviously not.”

Re: racism and #coronavirus - This is the first time I’ve ever felt physically unsafe in Australia because of my race. I thought we were over this shit but obviously not. — Yen-Rong Wong | 黃彥蓉 (@inexorablist) January 28, 2020

Meanwhile 27-year-old Pan, who is an Australian citizen with Chinese-Malaysian heritage, spoke about an uncomfortable experience on Melbourne public transport. “I was sitting on the tram when a white man came and sat next to me. He started talking about how Chinese people are spreading the coronavirus everywhere,” she told SBS. “I told him it wasn’t race-specific, and he kept insisting he was just saying what he had read and seen on the news.” Media Coverage And Misinformation Many people have also expressed concern over some of Australia’s media coverage in relation to the coronavirus crisis, as well as coronavirus fearmongering on social media encouraging people to avoid certain suburbs or Chinese cuisine. “It feels terrible, I’m not going to lie,” said Chinese international student Helen Chen who attends Australian National University. She told HuffPost Australia she was disappointed by the generalised comments being made about people of Chinese heritage. “We’re not a homogenous group, and the actions of the irresponsible people do not and should not reflect on us as a whole,” she said. Chen, who is currently stuck in Wuhan after visiting family, said “there are good people around” and many are following authorities’ instructions during this health crisis. “Most of us are doing the responsible thing of staying home and behaving responsibly and helping one another when we can,” she said. “So it really sucks that we’re being lumped together with those people and called mean things.”

The racist disregard for Coronavirus facts on Australia social media, with posts circulating that claim to avoid Asian majority neighborhoods and foods like "wagyu beef", "indomie noodles" and "yakult" (seriously wtf). Is really heartbreaking to see. Especially in real time. — Jonathon Toon (@jonathontoon) January 30, 2020

Wow. The amount of racism I’ve witnessed in Australia towards Asian people because of the coronavirus is criminal. People moving seats on trains, etc etc etc. I heard one person say ‘ I ate Chinese food last night, am I going to die?’ You’re a fucking idiot, shut up. — Josie Clifton💋 (@josieclifton) January 30, 2020

This is what xenophobia and racism looks like in Australia. It’s called the Coronavirus - call it by it’s name. #iamnotavirus



Sign the petition: https://t.co/mtznBzHcAXpic.twitter.com/9vE8bRL8mw — Lemon Podcast (@LemonPodcast2) January 30, 2020

So do only Chinese people get #coronavirus? Asking for the Herald Sun, which said it was a "Chinese virus". If so, I won't worry. I'm not Chinese! Gotcha. But remember when we used to say a disease belonged to a particular group of people? #auspol#wuhanpic.twitter.com/rxxNAPvaOD — Jason Om (@jason_om) January 29, 2020

"In Melbourne, the Herald Sun's front page on Wednesday carried a headline: "CHINESE VIRUS PANDAMONIUM". Get the pun? Panda! Why racialise the cause of an epidemic? Anyone from any ethnic background can be infected by coronavirus."https://t.co/TeoXyCgYR9 — Emma Barnard 🐨🦎🐝🦜🐁🦇🦘🐸 (@barnard_em) January 31, 2020

Melbourne’s Rachel Zhang said she had told her mother in Shanghai that there was no sign of racism back in Australia following the coronavirus outbreak, however it didn’t take long for her mum to discover this wasn’t the case thanks to some of Australia’s media coverage. “I couldn’t bear to tell her the truth and so I had to lie to my own mother, so that she wouldn’t be worried,” she explained. “Being a migrant herself, she has faced many accounts of racism in her lifetime. She understands that in times like this, racism and discrimination are the first to spread. “My white lies didn’t last for long, because the next morning The Daily Telegraph printed on their front page ‘China Kids Stay Home’. The Herald Sun swiftly followed suit with ‘Chinese Virus PANDAmonium’ and the headlines quickly spread across the internet, reaching Chinese communities. “I cannot speak for everyone but to me at least, the increased racism whilst extremely disappointing was not unexpected,” she said. “I had only hoped to be proven wrong. In these types of situations it can feel as if the whole world is against you.”

University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) Professor Andrew Jakubowicz, who specialises in race relations and media studies, said a global crisis like this can often fuel unpleasant, racist behaviour, and in this scenario the “coronavirus is a godsend” for bigots. “Crises license bigotry. Racists trawl for opportunities to ramp up the dissemination of racist tropes, memes and discourses and crises are always gifts for racists,” he told HuffPost Australia. In regards to media coverage, he said, “Some of the media will continue to play word games at the expense of Australians of Chinese and Asian descent. This is a style of harassment they have perfected in recent years. “For racists, dissolving the social glue of trust and destroying the bridging relationships between different ethnic groups, created over many years, has become their favourite game. Much of the media gets caught up in this game, amplifying its impact and consequences.”

We are deeply concerned by the emergence of #Racism in response to the #Coronavirus. There is never an excuse for racism. In times of a world health emergency we must follow the advice of health experts, stand together & show compassion. @WHO#SayNoToRacismpic.twitter.com/iYDJ1NHTzo — Multiculture Vic (@multiculturevic) January 31, 2020

Many people have said they believe the Australian government’s plans to transport Australian citizens stranded in Wuhan to Christmas Island for 14 days is racist. Christmas Island has previously been an offshore detention centre for refugees and asylum seekers. “Nearly all the Wuhan Australians are of Chinese descent – we will not see ‘white Australians’ marched off planes at Christmas Island by men in sealed white suits and oxygen packs,” said Jakubowicz. Professor James Laurenceson, Director of the UTS Australia-China Relations Institute, told HuffPost Australia that “many people are reasonably asking what’s behind the government’s decision to house evacuees in an offshore detention facility”. He also said that “while much of the responsibility for racist behaviour comes down to individuals, state and federal governments can help”. “The situation we have now where NSW and Victoria are giving different advice on school attendance, for example, adds to confusion and angst,” he explained. “Similarly, when the NSW health minister says that he is requesting kids who’ve been to any part of China stay away for 14 days owing to ‘community expectations’, not what is ‘medically necessary’, it can feed a permissive environment where racism can be fuelled. Schools and universities themselves are just doing their best given the guidance they are receiving from government departments.”

If ever there was doubt that Australia's policy on asylum seekers/refugees is based on a racist anxiety about the foreign as contagion, today's announcement that Australians in Wuhan will be quarantined on Christmas Island should settle it. #coronavirus — Sahar Ghumkhor (@theprimalplot) January 29, 2020

Looking at the history of Christmas Island and what's required to isolate this group of Australians, there are many more humane options on mainland Australia that would allow proximity to the appropriate medical specialists @amapresident#coronavirushttps://t.co/FsDLUTiFYV — AMA Media (@ama_media) January 30, 2020

Yes, this is complex, but Australian citizens deserve better from their government. This, from one citizen: “The Government wouldn't send its citizens to Christmas Island detention centre if those who are trapped in Wuhan were white Australians.” https://t.co/841Q55cX7c — Tim Soutphommasane (@timsout) January 30, 2020

Concerns For International Students Of the nine confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia, one involves a 21-year-old University of New South Wales student who was on the last flight to Sydney out of Wuhan, in the Chinese province of Hubei, before China imposed its travel ban. Australia’s National Union of Students president Molly Willmott said the union is concerned that Chinese international students could be targeted with racism as the start of the Australian universities’ semester nears. “We’re currently outside of semester but we are already seeing online comments and xenophobia of an anti-Chinese sentiment. We want to ensure there’s no targeting of any cultural groups,” Willmott told HuffPost Australia. She said addressing the issue “takes leadership from the universities”. “The international students require support services, and yes, many universities already have these, but this situation requires leadership. The message is that racism isn’t tolerated on campus. “The bigger issue feeding in is international students’ mental health and loneliness. It’s up to universities and student bodies to ensure they are not isolated.” The University of Sydney’s Chinese Culture Society said many of its student members are anxious about their future in Australia. “A lot of our international student members are concerned whether they can go back to uni and commence the next semester smoothly,” the group’s president said in a statement to HuffPost Australia.

ullstein bild via Getty Images Campus of the University of New South Wales (UNSW)