The Chinese embassy in Germany on Wednesday slammed reports by a German magazine over the outbreak of the new coronavirus in China, saying they are racist and xenophobic.
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The Chinese embassy in Germany denounced in a statement media outlets in Germany "that are self-claimed to objectivity and rationality, are not afraid of publishing racist remarks, instigating and inciting xenophobic ideas, especially the discrimination against China."
"Epidemic outbreaks must not be used as an excuse for discrimination and xenophobia, and press freedom must not become a reason for creating a racist opinion in German society," said the statement.
The Chinese embassy's statement came after German magazine Der Spiegel ran a front-page report over the weekend featuring a man wearing red protective clothing, goggles and earphones, with the headline "Made in China."
Der neue Spiegel ist da! Auf dem Titel: Made in China – Wenn die Globalisierung zur tödlichen Gefahr wird. Das und mehr ab morgen am Kiosk und ab jetzt hier: https://t.co/mdLGH9alMx pic.twitter.com/lf3hsJfzPJ
— DER SPIEGEL (@derspiegel) January 31, 2020
The Spiegel Online went further on Monday, publishing a commentary by Stefan Kuzmany, head Der Spiegel's opinion and debate section, in which he described China and the Chinese people using discriminative language, saying that "a little racism is fine."
However, the reports have been heavily criticized by several German readers commenting on Der Spiegel's front-page story on the website.