Chinese citizens in Papua New Guinea are being urged to be cautious due to growing discrimination amid the global coronavirus outbreak.
Photo: AFP
NBC reports the Chinese embassy in PNG as saying it was worried about the stigma and hate speech directed towards Chinese people because of the virus.
There are many shops, businesses and resource projects in PNG that are run and operated by Chinese companies and citizens.
China's ambassador to PNG, Xue Bing, has described the surge in xenophobic attacks against Chinese to be more serious than the corona virus itself.
Mr Xue said the recent discrimination against Chinese had been seen in many countries, not only PNG.
He said people should instead focus on preventative measures against the coronavirus which originated in China
Meantime, the embassy is urging Papua New Guineans not to panic but to trust that China will contain the spread of the coronavirus.