A court in Malawi’s capital Lilongwe has sentenced a 27 year-old Chinese national, Lu Ke, to one year’s imprisonment after finding him guilty of recruiting children for racial exploitation and ordered to leave the country.
The country’s Attorney General, Masauko Chamkakala, said Lu Ke, who was arrested last year, had seven days to leave Malawi, having already served his 12 months in jail. He is banned from ever returning to the country.
Lu Ke was accused of encouraging children in Malawi to chant racist slogans about themselves in Chinese – a language they did not understand – and then selling the videos on Chinese social networks.
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In one of Lu Ke’s videos, a child aged around nine was heard saying: “I am a monster with a low IQ.”
Lu Ke claimed he was aiming to spread Chinese culture in Malawi.
The public prosecutor said the Chinese national had paid financial compensation to the victims, without specifying the amount.
He was arrested in June 2022 in Zambia, Malawi’s neighbouring country, for illegal entry after fleeing Malawi and was later extradited.
The Chinese embassy in Malawi condemned Lu Ke’s actions stating that “the Chinese government has zero tolerance for racism.”
