“Now we are no longer needed!” How White European Migrants Talk about Race and Covid-19 in China

The outbreak of Covid-19 in China in early 2020 and the Chinese state’s draconian zero-Covid policy significantly impacted the lived experiences of international migrants. Anti-Asian racism in the Western world, coupled with the fear of imported cases from overseas, has triggered a rising tide of nationalism and xenophobia in the country. Based on semi-structured interviews and participant observation, this chapter examines how different groups of white European migrants discuss, reflect on, and make sense of the (ir)relevance of race and whiteness in their Covid-related experiences. I identify three major themes in my participants’ narratives: the vulnerable foreigner, the cultural outsider, and victims of Chinese racism. This research finds that white identity remains largely invisible in China and is overshadowed by a self-claimed foreigner identity. White migrants’ feelings of insecurity during Covid-19 reflect their increasing awareness of the racialized nature of the Chinese gazes. While some of them resort to whiteness as a standpoint, a worldview, and unmarked cultural practices to contest the disciplinary power of the Chinese gazes, they hesitate to identify with black migrants as the default racial Other.