getty imagesMembers of the Chinese community in Wales have said a racist insult used by a reformist politician has “hurt deeply”.
Laura Anne Jones, the party’s sole Welsh Parliament member, returned to the Senedd chamber on Wednesday after being banned for two weeks for using a racial slur to describe Chinese people in a WhatsApp chat in August 2023.
This meant that her salary was cut and she could not attend Welsh Parliament proceedings.
The Chinese in Wales Association (CIWA) welcomed the action taken by the Senedd, but said that the wording Jones used had “deeply harmful and racist connotations” and that it was “extremely disappointing to hear such language from an elected representative”.
Warning: This story contains language that some people may find offensive
After serving his sentence, Jones apologized for his “regretful comments” in a “private message”.
Speaking on 19 November, Jones said that she and her staff had completed Senedd respect and conduct training and that she had “actively been in touch and helped the community that is being referred to”.
She added, “I have thought about this deeply and I fully acknowledge the need to be more mindful of my language at all times.”
Reform Britain leader Nigel Farage called it a “very minor offence”.
He said, “Compared to what happens in public life and the mistakes people make in their everyday lives, what he has done is a very small crime. Now he has been given a very severe punishment for it.”
“He used a word 20 years ago that probably had a good meaning in colloquial speech.”
He said Jones had “made an absolute mistake”.
CIWA founder and CEO Shirley Au-Young said Jones’ comments were “very disturbing”, especially coming from a politician.
“The term is sometimes used by people without fully understanding its impact, but public figures should be particularly mindful of the harm such language can cause.
“We do not want to live in a society where racially offensive language is normalized or dismissed.”
In August 2023, Jones, then a Conservative member of the Senedd, used an expletive in a WhatsApp group in response to a discussion about TikTok – at the time, there were fears the Chinese government could use the app to spy.
Jones, who defected from Reform in July and represents South Wales East, also called a former employee “a waste” and a “bitter, perverted, worthless person” in a group chat.
According to census data, the number of residents identifying as Chinese in Wales was 14,000 in 2021.
Swansea has the highest proportion of Chinese people in Wales, outside Cardiff.
Yan Wu is Professor in Media Communications at Swansea University and has been studying Chinese immigration to Europe since 2005.
He said that Chinese immigration to Britain has gone through three phases since the end of the Second World War.
Post-war Britain attracted immigrants to address labor shortages and changing consumer demands, while the late 1970s saw students and scholars flocking to education.
Since 2000, Professor Wu said, Chinese immigrants have further diversified, including political dissidents, naturalized citizens, economic immigrants and Chinese medical practitioners, as well as “many expatriates from Hong Kong”.
getty images“Many ethnic Chinese people born in Wales have shared that their Welsh identity can sometimes be questioned because of how they look,” said Ms Au-Yeung, from Swansea.
He added, “People look at their faces and think they’re immigrants. They think they’re Welsh but other people question and it hurts them a lot.”
“We do not use this word in our language. It exists in English, there is no direct translation.
“The term has historically been used in negative and racist contexts, and its impact is still deeply felt.”
Fu Seng, head of advocacy at CIWA, said: “By using that word you are telling the public that it is OK to use that word to talk about the Chinese community.
“It’s hard to express the disappointment we’re feeling, but it’s outrageous.”
Angela Hui, author of Takeaway: Stories from Behind the Counter, said it was a word that “may seem harmless to someone from the outside… but for many East and South East Asians in Britain, it is a word that cuts deep inside”.
Rhonda Cynon Taaffe, 34, of Beddow, said that using such language “teaches people that it is fair game to use that word and make fun”.
He added: “It encourages people to ignore our struggles, to dismiss pain and discrimination as ‘jokes’ rather than racism.
“So when people defend it in terms of ‘it meant no harm’, ‘just kidding’, ‘it’s just what everyone says’, they forget that the issue was never just a word but that it shaped the way others treat us.
“Many of us have grown up in a system that has taught us to keep quiet, to carry our hurts, and to dismiss our personal and shared experiences. So when ‘little things’ like the C-word are thrown so carelessly into messages it piles up and turns into something bigger.”
He said that, time and again, elected politicians have made inappropriate and offensive comments, so “this is nothing new and surprising”.
“We must actively call out racism because it is wrong, no matter its intentions.”
getty imagesMs Au-Young said she did not think Jones acknowledged the impact of his language: “I recognize that this has been difficult for him, but it is also important to acknowledge the experiences of members of the Chinese community who encounter this negative language in their daily lives. Many suffer in silence.”
He said he was glad to see the Welsh Government addressing the issue and hoped it would show people that this is unacceptable.
“We need to make sure people are educated and understand the trouble this word causes and ultimately stop using it.”
CIWA said Jones’ suspension was “an important reminder that racism must be taken seriously, especially by people in positions of public trust”.
“We hope this incident will serve as a catalyst for deeper reflection on the cultures, norms and practices within political parties and the Senedd that allow racist language to emerge in the first place.”
It added that the organization welcomed the Senedd’s invitation to engage in dialogue on this incident and related issues.
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