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The Anglo-Chinese businessman (with his doctor wife) told MailOnline: 'There has been growing anti-China racism since the pandemic took hold by people who hold China responsible for the spread of the virus
And he revealed that the Metropolitan Police were investigating after all four tyres on his silver Mercedes were slashed outside his home in north London. It means his wife Marie-Claire - an NHS doctor - now struggles to get to work on a busy Covid-19 ward during the lockdown
Targeted for being Chinese: Celebrity London restaurateur whose guests have included Prince Charles, Jonathan Ross and Stephen Fry tells of racist backlash over Covid-19 - and reveals his own car tyres were slashed
- Geoff Leong, a father of three, owns Dumplings' Legend in London's China Town
- He has hosted an array of stars including royalty, actors and artists
- The Anglo-Chinese businessman sits on the Covid Anti-Racism Group
- He said the Chinese community had been assaulted, ostracised and shouted at
- All four of his car tyres were slashed outside his home in Hackey, north London
- His wife Marie-Claire had been using the car to get to work on a Covid-ward at King's College Hospital in south London during the lockdown
- Mr Leong, who moved to the UK from Hong Kong when he was 10, said 'anti China racism' was getting worse
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
He also scrawled the word ‘WHY? on each damaged tyre.
Mr Leong, who is also on the board of the Barbican, said his wife works in neurology but has been asked to cover in the Covid-Ward at King's Colleg Hospital in south London to help battle the pandemic.
'That’s why I left all those messages over the car, I want them to know that they’ve basically hindered a doctor trying to save lives. I want the wider community to know what they’ve done.’
‘I’ve lived in Britain since I was 10-years-old, I was schooled here. The Chinese community have given a lot to this country, many nurses and doctors who work for the NHS have come from China or Hong Kong.
‘It is distressing for us to go through as a family. If there are people out in the community who have a grudge against me – or the Chinese community – and have done this then they need to be exposed.’
Meg Hillier, MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, said she was shocked his car had been attacked: ‘If only his car was attacked in the street – the simple question is why?
‘This will shock all right-minded people because we know that coronavirus is a worldwide pandemic and we have to be pulling together, which most people in Hackney are.
‘This was a particularly unnecessary and nasty crime, which has had the added consequence of leaving a front-line health worker without her wheels.'
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: ‘Police were called on Wednesday, 22 April to reports of criminal damage to a car.
‘The owner of the vehicle reported that the car’s tyres had been slashed. There have been no arrests at this stage.’
