Washington, March 12 (TIWN) US President Joe Biden has condemned what he called "vicious hate crimes" targeting Asian-Americans since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, saying such acts must stop.

"At this very moment, so many of them, our fellow Americans, they're on the frontlines of this pandemic trying to save lives, and still, they are forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America," he said while addressing the nation.  "It's wrong. It's un-American and it must stop."  Biden issued a memorandum late January condemning "inflammatory and xenophobic rhetoric" that has put Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAP) at risk, including references to geographic locations of the virus origins that have stoked "unfounded fears".