Actor Jason Wong says he was racially discriminated against in a London newsagents
British actor Jason Wong says he was racially discriminated in a newsagents in London by a shopper who feared he could have coronavirus because of his Chinese descent.
Mr Wong, who starred in Guy Ritchie's latest movie The Gentlemen, said the middle-aged man confronted him and asked: "Are you Chinese?"
The 34-year-old actor, who was born in London, then began arguing with the shopper while recording the scene on his smartphone in Queen's Park.
Mr Wong claims shop staff ''just stood there in silence'' during the dispute, which he claims is a case of COVID-19 racial prejudice that has been causing fear among the East Asian community.
Hate crimes against Chinese people in the UK have spiked during the coronavirus outbreak, with new police figures showing at least 267 offences recorded in the first three months of 2020.
Forces revealed 267 offences were recorded in the first three months of 2020, compared to 375 hate crimes throughout the whole of 2019 and 360 offences in 2018.
Among the crimes reported this year, the British Transport Police revealed an offender said "f****** Chinese" five times and punched a person in the jaw, and another victim was spat on.
Before Mr Wong's started filming, he said the man ''came up to me and asked if I was Chinese and then came up to me and said he was scared that I was Chinese."
The shopper, who appears to be speaking with an Irish accent, continues paying for his groceries while using a face mask and blue gloves.
He replied: ''It's not your race. It's where corona comes from. Look at the world. The state of it. What's happening.''
The incensed actor then continued the dispute with the man claiming he ''decided to racially discriminate against me."
''Absolutely disgusting behaviour. You should be ashamed of yourself,'' he adds to the camera.
Staff at the shop told local media that the argument began when the older man asked the actor, to stay two metres away from him.
Speaking after, Jason said that East Asians within the British community could be ''living in fear of being attacked because of racial discrimination.''
He said that he feared his mother, who is of East Asian descent, could also suffer prejudice when she goes out for her weekly shop.
Mr Wong added: ''No one else in the shop spoke up for me, they just stood there in silence which is fine. But I think the key message there is that if people are being racist, you have to be outspoken and speak up for yourself because no one else will.''
