(Reuters) – China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Friday advised the public to avoid traveling to Australia, citing racial discrimination and violence against the Chinese in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There has been an alarming increase recently in acts of racial discrimination and violence against Chinese and Asians in Australia, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the ministry said in a statement. It did not give any specific examples of such discrimination or violence.

Asians of various backgrounds have said they have been harassed since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, including in the United States. China issued a warning to tourists traveling there earlier this year after some said they were mistreated in connection with the outbreak.

(This story has been refiled to fix spelling error in first paragraph.)