BEIJING (AP) – A riot brought by China over Canadian T-shirts with a changed logo of the New York hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan continued on Wednesday, and the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that they do not buy the declaration from Canada that the shirts do not have an insult linked to the coronavirus.
The Canadian Foreign Ministry said this week that the shirts using the “W” logo of the Wu-Tang Clan, but with the name of the group replaced by “Wuhan”, were not intended. It apologized for any misunderstanding.
The Chinese-made T-shirts were reportedly ordered by someone at the Canadian embassy in Beijing last summer, and the news of this has recently started spreading on the internet in China.
Chinese critics say the “W” is actually a bat and that the shirt is meant to imply a link between the animals and the virus outbreak in the city of Wuhan, which plays a stereotype about the Chinese taste for eating exotic species. The virus that causes COVID-19 is thought to be from bats and its outbreak was first detected in Wuhan.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters on Wednesday that Canada’s statement so far was “unconvincing.”
“The misconduct of the Canadian staff concerned has already caused a serious impact and caused strong resentment and dissatisfaction among the ordinary Chinese people,” Wang said. “The Canadian side must take the matter seriously and give a clear explanation to the Chinese side as soon as possible.”
Christelle Chartrand, spokeswoman for the Canadian Foreign Ministry, said in a statement on Wednesday: “The T-shirt logo designed by a member of the embassy shows a stylized W and is not intended to be a “It was created for the team of ambassadors who are repatriating the Canadians from Wuhan in early 2020.”
‘It was a personal initiative of an employee and it was not endorsed by the Embassy of Global Affairs Canada. We regret the misunderstanding, “Chartrand said in an email.
The controversy is further irritating to the relations between the countries that have been plagued for the past two years over China’s demand that Canada release a general manager of communications giant Huawei who is wanted on charges of fraud in the United States.
Meng Wanzhou, who is also the daughter of the company’s founder, denies the charges. China says its case was politically motivated as part of a U.S. effort to stifle the country’s global economic expansion. Her lawyers argue that she was subjected to the abuse of the process and should be released.
Canada arrested Meng at the airport in Vancouver at the end of 2018. In apparent retaliation, China detained former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor, placed restrictions on various Canadian exports to China, and sentenced a convicted Canadian drug smuggler to death in a sudden retrial.