'I am not a virus': France's Asian community pushes back over xenophobia


Artist's agent Sun-Lay Tan poses during an interview with Reuters in Paris, France, January 31, 2020. The coronavirus outbreak has stoked a wave of anti-Asian sentiment in France, whose capital Paris is a major draw for Chinese visitors and which has a significant Chinese population. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

PARIS (Reuters) - In a southeastern Paris district known as the go-to place for Asian cuisine, business is down at Pascal Corlier's Vietnamese restaurant, a side-effect of China's coronavirus health scare that has sparked panic and a rise in xenophobic incidents.

Some nervous customers have begun to ask waiting staff if they are Chinese, according to Corlier, whose Vietnamese father-in-law runs the kitchen and serves up traditional dishes like pho soup. Others are simply staying away.

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