BEIJING (AP) – A confusion brought by China around Canadian t-shirts with an altered logo by New York hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan continued on Wednesday, with China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying it did not believe it in Canada’s explanation that the shirts were not an insult linked to the coronavirus.
Canada’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said this week that T-shirts with the Wu-Tang Clan “W” logo, but with the group’s name replaced by “Wuhan”, were not intended to be negligible. He apologized for any misunderstanding.
Chinese-made t-shirts were reportedly ordered last summer by someone from the Canadian embassy in Beijing and news of them recently started circulating on the Internet in China.
Chinese critics say the “W” is actually a bat and the shirt is intended to suggest a connection between animals and the virus outbreak in Wuhan City, playing on a stereotype about the Chinese taste for eating exotic species. The virus that causes COVID-19 is suspected of originating in bats and its outbreak was first detected in Wuhan.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters on Wednesday that Canada’s explanation so far “has not been convincing”.
“The irregularity of the Canadian team in question has already had a blatant impact and has generated strong resentment and discontent among the common Chinese people,” said Wang. “The Canadian side should take the matter seriously and give a clear explanation to the Chinese side as soon as possible.”
On Wednesday, Canadian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Christelle Chartrand said in a statement that “The T-shirt logo designed by an embassy member shows a stylized W and is not intended to represent a bat. It was created for the staff of the Embassy who worked on the repatriation of Canadians from Wuhan in early 2020. ”
“This was an employee’s personal initiative and was not endorsed by the Embassy or Global Affairs Canada. We regret the misunderstanding, ”said Chartrand via email.
The controversy is most irritating to relations between countries that have plummeted in the past two years with China’s demand that Canada release a top executive at communications giant Huawei, 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 is politically motivated as part of an effort by the United States to curb the country’s global economic expansion. Her lawyers argue that she was abused in the process and should be released.
Canada arrested Meng at Vancouver airport in late 2018. In apparent retaliation, China detained former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and Canadian businessman Michael Spavor, imposed restrictions on several Canadian exports to China and sentenced a smuggler to death. Canadian drug convict in a sudden retrial.