Columnist Allison Pearson tweeted the incendiary remarks on Monday night, just hours after British PM Boris Johnson ordered a three-week nationwide lockdown of the UK in an attempt to counter the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

The irony of Pearson’s seemingly anti-Chinese sentiments was – unfortunately for her – not lost on many Twitter users, who highlighted the fact she had made these comments using an Apple product almost certainly manufactured in China.

The 59-year-old British journalist was accused of stupidity as well as xenophobia and racism, with some pointing to the huge 5G deal Johnson has struck with Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei, in addition to the deal sealed for the nuclear plant at Hinkley Point C in Somerset.