BEIJING (AP) – A fuss brought by China over Canadian T-shirts with a changed logo of New York hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan continued Wednesday, with China’s State Department saying it was not buying Canada’s explanation. that the shirts were not an insult related to the coronavirus.
The Canadian State Department said this week that the shirts with the Wu-Tang Clan’s “W” logo but with the group’s name replaced by “Wuhan” were not meant to be a trifle. It apologized for any misunderstanding.
The China-made T-shirts were reportedly ordered by someone at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing last summer, and reports of them recently started circulating on the Internet in China.
Chinese critics say the “W” is actually a bat and the shirt is intended to suggest a link between the animals and the virus outbreak in Wuhan city, playing on a stereotype about Chinese taste for eating exotic species. The virus that causes COVID-19 is suspected to be from bats and its outbreak was first discovered in Wuhan.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters on Wednesday that Canada’s explanation so far was “inconclusive.”
“The misconduct of the affected Canadian personnel has already had a tremendous impact and has created strong resentment and discontent among the common Chinese people,” Wang said. “The Canadian side must take the matter seriously and provide a clear explanation to the Chinese side as soon as possible.”
On Wednesday, Canadian State Department spokesman Christelle Chartrand said in a statement: “The T-shirt logo designed by an embassy member features a stylized W and is not intended to represent a bat. It was created for the team of embassy personnel working on the repatriation of Canadians from Wuhan in early 2020. “
“This was a personal initiative by an employee and was not endorsed by the Embassy or Global Affairs Canada. We regret the misunderstanding, ”said Chartrand in an email.
The controversy is further irritating to relations between the countries that have taken a dive over the past two years over China’s demand that Canada release a top executive of communications giant Huawei, who is wanted for fraud in the United States.
Meng Wanzhou, who is also the daughter of the company’s founder, has denied the charges. China says its case is politically motivated as part of an effort by the US to suppress the country’s global economic expansion. Her attorneys allege she is subject to abuse trial and should be released.
Canada arrested Meng at Vancouver airport in late 2018. In apparent retaliation, China arrested former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor, imposed restrictions on several Canadian exports to China, and sentenced a convicted Canadian drug smuggler to death in a sudden retrial.