Chinese woman reveals she’s been verbally abused and spat on amid coronavirus pandemic

A Chinese-Australian woman who has been attacked when walking down the street has hit out the people who abused her.

One Chinese woman has given a brutal first-hand account of the racism she’s received amid the coronavirus pandemic.

As more reports emerge of racist attacks against Australians of Asian descent, Sydney woman Helen spoke to Today hosts Karl Stefanovic and Ally Langdon this morning, revealing that in the past few weeks she’s suffered racial abuse on the street on three separate occasions.

In one terrifying encounter, Helen says she was walking on the street in Crows Nest, NSW, when a man in his 50s spat on her and shouted “You f***ing Chinese, take your coronavirus back home.”

“And ever since President Trump has told coronavirus is the ‘China virus’, we've been attacked,” she said.

Helen speaks about racism she’s experienced.

Helen said she had a message for those using the pandemic as an excuse for racism and abuse of Asian people.

“And I felt terribly sorry for these people attacking on me and they are ignorant and they have no idea where I come from and who I am. I came here 30 years ago, as a political refugee, and I was a student leader in Tiananmen Square, and some of my friends and also students died in my arms. I survived. And little do they know, these ‘effing Chinese’ can’t go back to China, these ‘effing Chinese’ suffer the same fate as everyone else. And then these ‘effing Chinese’ called Australia home for 30 years.”

Helen said that the racist attacks have been countered by strong displays of support from other members of the community, with friends rallying around to comfort her.

“So I want to tell my community we’re OK and also the message I want to tell my attackers, please, please stop it. Please do not use us as your punching bag for your own frustration, and a punching bag for this sort of war between China and America. This Chinese community in Australia, have nothing to do with it.”

In one sickening act of intimidation, vandals targeted a Chinese-Australian family’s home for two nights in a row, leaving their garage covered in racist graffiti and smashing a window with a large rock.

On Monday, the Melbourne family woke up to find “COVID-19 China die” spray-painted on the home’s garage door and then on Tuesday night, someone smashed one of their windows about 2.30am, according to the ABC.

The second attack was partially captured on camera, with footage showing someone running from the property in Knoxfield, a suburb in Melbourne’s east, and climbing over a fence.