Racist Chinese trader arrested and deported

A Chinese national who made racist remarks was yesterday deported.

The Immigration Department said Liu Jiaqi’s work permit had been cancelled and he was deported on racism grounds.

“A Chinese national by the name Liu Jiaqi, who was captured on video yesterday (Wednesday) using abusive words, has been arrested. Jiaqi is being processed for deportation,” the department said in a tweet.

The department in a subsequent tweet confirmed that the culprit had been deported.

Liu was secretly captured on video by a worker he had threatened to sack from his motorcycle shop.

In the clip, the trader brags that there was nothing that ‘poor, black, smelly’ Kenyans can do to him even if he sacks the employee.

The employee is heard arguing a case of unfair treatment by the Chinese man who interrupts him, saying it is because he is Kenyan.

He says in the clip all he wants in Kenya is to make money.

“Every one, every Kenyan... like a monkey, even Uhuru Kenyatta. All of them,” he says.

The clip angered many online, who asked for action to be taken against Liu.

Some people demanded that he be charged in court before he is deported.

The Immigration Department said the man was arrested yesterday after complaints and the emergence of the clip.

According to the Chinese embassy, the man was fined Sh10,000.

The spokesperson of the embassy, Zhang Gang, said the video was recorded in June and Liu had already been “punished” by the company and had “apologised” to his Kenyan colleague.

The punishment involved a suspension and the fine but it was not clear for how long he had been suspended.

Zhang, however, confirmed that his work permit was rejected.

He added that Liu’s personal talk and feelings did not represent the views of the Chinese people and that the Chinese embassy always required Chinese companies and individuals to abide by local laws.

“The personal talk and personal feeling of this young man do not represent the views of the vast majority of Chinese people,” said Zhang.

Thirdway Alliance party leader Ekuru Aukot and Embakasi East MP Babu Owino were among Kenyans who expressed their sentiments on the racial slur on Twitter.

“This racist Chinese must first feel the weight of Kenyan law before he is deported. He must be sent to Kamiti,” said Aukot.

Three other Chinese nationals who were arrested from a casino in Kilimani, Nairobi, at the weekend were also deported.

They were among 21 foreigners, 18 of them Chinese, who were arrested at the joint. The rest were released.

Barely hours

The video recording emerged just hours after police raided the CGTN studios in Nairobi and arrested foreign nationals working there.

The company said police arrested 13 people, eight of them the broadcaster’s employees, in the lunch time raid that was conducted ostensibly to pick up foreigners who were alleged to be working for the media house without proper documents.

According to the embassy, it had received a call from 13 Chinese nationals who were detained by police even though they held legal documents.

Chinese consular officers went to the police station in connection with the situation. Sources said they had expressed concern about the conduct of the police.