Daily Mail: Tourists are being told to avoid areas of London ‘populated by Indians, Pakistanis and black people’ in a Chinese airline’s in-flight magazine.
Wings of China, the in-flight magazine for Air China, made the ‘racist’ comment in a travel article on the UK capital.
The article, printed in both English and Chinese, said: ‘London is generally a safe place to travel, however precautions are needed when entering areas mainly populated by Indians, Pakistanis and black people.’
…The article continued: ‘We advise tourists not to go out alone at night, and females always to be accompanied by another person when travelling.’
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, Labour MP for Tooting which has one of the largest Indian and Pakistani populations in London, said: ‘My initial thoughts were that the comments were outrageous.
‘I think that it is offensive to Londoners and I would like to see it removed. I would also like to ask the airline why they thought these precautions needed to be taken.
‘Why they feel they needed to warn people of something that is not reflective of London at all?
‘I think it is offensive to all Londoners, not just the ethnic minorities mentioned…
‘We pride ourselves on having a wonderfully diverse community, and this may mean people come here with a different idea, it is worrying that some may arrive concerned.
‘I am going to be writing to the Chinese Ambassador to invite him to visit Tooting in London, where all races live side by side. Then they can see how we live and our wonderfully diverse community.’
* Here are the arrest rates (per 1,000 residents) by ethnicity. The data are taken from Greater Manchester, which has a population of 2.8 million and is located in northwestern England.
Bangladeshi – 11.3
Indian – 5.9
Pakistani – 15.4
Other Asian – 25.7
Black African – 24.5
Black Caribbean – 37.8
Black Other – 46.2
Mixed White/Asian – 10.1
Mixed White/Black African – 16.3
Mixed White/Black Caribbean – 31.0
Mixed Other – 22.2
White British – 13.3
White Irish – 12.5
Other White – 17.6
Chinese – 2.8
Other Ethnic Groups – 18.2
