"This is a pandemic, this is a virus it knows no boundaries[...] therefore we need an international response, not one that seeks to spread division and hatred" Sarah Owen MP.

With the contagion spreading internationally, the responses from governments have varied from the lacklustre to the authoritarian. Hard right politicians have ramped up nativist language and elements in the west and the east have sought to blame the other side for the outbreak. With Trump and others labeling the virus the 'Chinese Virus' the contagion has been invested with a racial identity in the minds of xenophobes. The implications are troubling for Chinese and East Asian people internationally.

Sarah Owen talks with us about how she thinks we can respond to this outbreak of hatred.