Cape Town - Zambian authorities have extradited a Chinese filmmaker to neighbouring Malawi to face charges relating to racism and child exploitation.
Fugitive Chinese national Lu Ke was exposed by a BBC investigation, Africa Eye, which reported he had used local children to film personalised greetings videos, some of which included racist content.
Police in Malawi said that their counterparts in Zambia handed over Lu Ke to them Saturday night in the Mchinji district, which borders Zambia, according to a Voice of America report on Sunday.
In June, the Chinese national wanted in Malawi for filming children singing racist chants in Chinese was arrested in neighbouring Zambia, an immigration official told media.
“He was arrested in Chipata, Zambia, after fleeing the country through uncharted routes,” Malawi immigration spokesperson Pasqually Zulu said.
In one video, a young child, 9, is heard saying: “I am a monster with low IQ.”
In a statement last week, the Chinese embassy in Malawi condemned the acts of racism by one of its citizens.
“It shall be stressed that the Chinese government has zero tolerance for racism,” it said.
“China has been cracking down on unlawful online acts in the past years and will continue to do so. The embassy will closely work with the Malawi side and see to it that this unfortunate issue be properly addressed,” authorities said in June.
“We are trying to manage whatever aspect of this that involves us working with the Chinese government. For the rest of the other aspects, those are internal issues that are being handled by internal state organs," the ministry's spokesperson John Kabaghe said.
The news sparked outrage in Malawi, forcing various rights organisations to hold street protests and present a petition to the Chinese Embassy in the capital, Lilongwe.
IOL