UK parliament to hold debate on racism towards East Asian people amid COVID-19 pandemic

The UK parliament is set to hold a debate on Tuesday concerning the racism directed towards East Asian people following the onset of the coronavirus disease pandemic, according to the parliamentary agenda.

The debate is scheduled to begin at 16:30 local time [15:30 GMT] and is being led by Sarah Owen, a British-Chinese Labour lawmaker. Earlier in the day, Owen told the Sky News broadcaster that stock photos depicting East Asian people were overwhelmingly used to illustrate news stories on the COVID-19 pandemic that had nothing to do with the region.

"COVID is being given a face, and it's the face of an East Asian person wearing a mask," Owen told the broadcaster.

The Labour lawmaker added that conspiracy theories are being spread online that are derogatory towards East Asian people.

"We're either just being accused of eating bat soup and inhumane practices around food, or we are somehow in charge of some global conspiracy around COVID-19," Owen stated.

Police figures published in May indicated that the number of hate crimes committed against Chinese people in the United Kingdom had surged following the onset of COVID-19. At least 267 offenses were recorded in the first three months of 2020, nearly three times more than the same period in the previous two years. (/Sputnik)

( With inputs from ANI )