This shocking video has emerged of a Chinese villager celebrating the ongoing pandemic in the United States by putting up a huge banner and setting off fireworks.
The tasteless stunt comes just days after a Chinese restaurant manager was arrested for doing something similar in order to “attract customers”.
Filmed in an as yet unidentified village in mainland China, the clip appears to show the resident cheering news that the United States had recorded more than 100,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Video Credit: AsiaWire
In the clip, the villager stands outside his home where a large red banner is hanging from a wall.
He reads out the text on the banner, the like of which is usually reserved for celebrating weddings and birthdays, and says: “Congratulations to the United States for more than 100,000 confirmed novel coronavirus cases.”
Below, it reads: “I love China. Resist the United States.”
According to Hong Kong news outlet Apple Daily, the incident happened shortly after the United States became the first country to report more than 100,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
It was unclear whether Chinese authorities were able to – or indeed attempt to – track the villager down.
The shocking firework celebration comes just one week after a Chinese restaurant owner in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning Province in north-eastern China, was arrested for putting up a similar message in front of his business.
The red inflatable arch outside congee restaurant Yang Mama read: “We warmly congratulate news of the pandemic in the US, and wish Japan a prolonged outbreak.”
Restaurant manager Mr Hui, who is reportedly around 30 years old, was arrested by local police. The business has also been shut, and it is unclear when it is due to reopen.
According to reports, the message – intended to attract customers – stayed up for about 90 minutes before cops took it down.
On 29th March, Wuhan’s Leishenshan Hospital – a 1,500-bed facility built in a matter of days – held a ceremony to celebrate and honour departing health workers as the worst of the outbreak ended in the region.
The city of Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province in Central China, is to end its lockdown on 8th April.
At the time of writing, data compiled by Johns Hopkins University shows the US having recorded 164,610 cases and 3,170 deaths.
In China, 82,240 cases and 3,309 deaths have been reported.
The country is now sending doctors and medical supplies to pandemic-hit Europe in what has been described by reports as a “power play” amid questions over Beijing’s transparency in the early weeks of the outbreak as well as the true virus death toll to date.
But it is unclear whether China’s strategy, dubbed ‘mask diplomacy’, will pay off, as several European countries including Spain, the Netherlands and Turkey, have returned hundreds of thousands of allegedly faulty testing kits and surgical masks.
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Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
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