London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 23, 2025

Asian hate crime during Covid: Young people speak out about abuse

Asian hate crime during Covid: Young people speak out about abuse

Young people from the Asian community have spoken out on the abuse they have faced since the Covid-19 pandemic took hold.

From “looks of disgust”, physical assaults and being coughed at, the level of racist abuse against Asians has stoked fear in the community, which has withstood a wave of hate crime over the past year.

In 2020, Metropolitan police figures revealed that between January and June they had recorded a total of 457 race-related crimes against people of “Oriental” ethnicity or those who self-defined as Chinese.

The Independent reported that in February alone last year 64 incidents of racist hate crimes against “Oriental” victims had been recorded – this is more than twice the number in the previous year which stood at 29.

In March, this figure rose again to 101, nearly three times as more than in March 2019 and 2018.

Nepalese musician, Kanti Gurung, 22, who lives in North Acton, London, said: “I was in Asia before the pandemic was announced and when I left England everything was still fine but when I came back to London everything was shut down, people were isolated and scared to walk on the streets.

“That is when I noticed the difference and straightaway, I felt this social disillusionment of me for being Asian.

The 22-year-old, who has since returned to Korea to visit her sister, said that it was when she heard about Jonathan Mok, a Singaporean student, who was heavily beaten during a racist attack, that she realised how serious things were.

The UCL law student was assaulted on Oxford Street, London in February 2020 by a group of boys in an ‘unprovoked attack,’ where they told him “we don’t want your coronavirus in our country.”

A 16-year-old boy, who was involved in the violent act, was convicted earlier this year for racially aggravated grievous bodily harm following a trial at Highbury Corner Youth Court.

And it was just last month on February 25, a year on from Mr Mok’s attack that a bloody image of Peng Wang, a university lecturer, circulated on social media after he was also beaten and left needing treatment.

The 37-year-old from Southampton was punched and kicked to the ground by a group of men, after they allegedly yelled racist slurs at him and became violent when he shouted back.

A 23-year-old man was arrested and has since been released but Hampshire Constabulary is still appealing for witnesses to come forward.

Like Ms Gurung, many other Asian’s in London and across the country are grappling with heightened anxiety about their safety.

But she says after years of being taught to “keep quiet and not fight back” they’re now reclaiming their voices and speaking up.


John Barco, 24, a Filipino from Newham, London, told the Standard that racism against Asians is not “new” but it has simply been exacerbated because of the pandemic.

His comments come after an early study by Ipsos, looking into people’s behaviour, found that one in seven Britons in the UK had said at the start of the pandemic that they would start to avoid people of Chinese appearance or origin.

Mr Barco said that such reports and attacks made him “scared” for his mother, a nurse, who often travels on her own.

“My mother’s colleagues are also Filipino and one of them got close to being physically attacked on the bus and then another one got verbally abused, just because she was Asian.

“That was pretty much it, just because she was Asian during a time where Covid was at its highest and everyone decided to make the link between Asia and us as though we were the viruses,” he added.

The 24-year-old said he wished he could be there for his mother 24/7 and pick her up from work but he is not able to.

“Both my parents work so it’s not always a case where my dad and I can pick my mum up so sometimes she comes home by herself.

“It’s gotten to a point where I can’t take it anymore, seeing and hearing all the stuff happening to people that look like me.

“I think it’s important to talk about the issue of Asian hate crime because not enough is being done about it and we can see it’s becoming more and more prominent across the world and it’s important to let people know we don’t stand for it.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×