China's recent crackdown on dual citizenship has made some overseas Chinese who hold foreign and Chinese passports worried. Photo: VCG
By Leng Shumei
Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama said that Chinese authorities are entitled to check international arrivals’ passports after the discovery of imported cases from Nigeria and other countries.
It is also necessary for China to carry out measures, including quarantine, testing and passport checks, on international arrivals to prevent imported cases from spreading the coronavirus, Onyeama said during a meeting with Chinese Ambassador Zhou Pingjian to Nigeria on Tuesday to clarify recent rumors of Africans being mistreated in Guangzhou, capital of South China’s Guangdong Province and a hub for African businessmen in China.
The remarks came after a video went viral on social media claiming that three Nigerians had been forcibly ejected from their hotels, quarantined and had their passports seized.
In the video, an official from the Nigerian consulate in Guangzhou said that the passports were property of the Nigerian government and China had no right to seize them, which Onyeama said may be the result of a lack of communication.
According to Zhou, Guangzhou has been improving its work methods and established effective communication mechanisms with African consulates and working on ways to resolve the concerns of their Nigerian and African friends.
Global Times
