After the Hong Kong protests, America’s Black Lives Matter protests were like manna from heaven for Beijing. Now Chinese politicians could point the finger at the US as its own house was in disarray. Take just one example, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying:
But China’s own problems with race leave the country open to allegations of hypocrisy. It wasn’t long ago that a Chinese laundry detergent advert had to be pulled because it showed a black man becoming Asian after being put in the washing machine (no, really).
This week, perfumer Jo Malone has had to apologise for excising black actor John Boyega from the Chinese version of its latest ad campaign. Directed by Boyega, the ‘London gent’ campaign is a celebration of Peckham, where the actor grew up, his Nigerian heritage, and how far he has come.
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