China Slams Departing US Envoy With Slur

State news service essay calls him 'banana' with yellow skin and white heart
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 28, 2014 1:50 PM CST
China Slams Departing US Envoy With Slur
Outgoing U.S. ambassador to China Gary Locke leaves after a farewell press conference in Beijing.   (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, Pool)

Today was Gary Locke's last day as US ambassador to China, and Beijing is apparently happy to see the last of him. The official China News Service ran an essay that included this line:

  • “Gary Locke is a US-born, third-generation Chinese-American, and his being a banana—‘yellow skin and white heart’—became an advantage for Obama’s foreign policy."

The critique went on to say that a "banana will inevitably start to rot" and cited a litany of offenses by Locke, including his visits to Tibet, reports the New York Times. It also called him a "guide dog for the blind"—a reference to Locke's help for this dissident—and a "plague," reports AP. Locke is the first Chinese-American to hold the post, and that seems to have earned him even more scorn. The piece was headlined "Farewell, Gary Locke," echoing a 1949 essay by Mao himself headlined "Farewell, Leighton Stuart" about another departing ambassador. Today's was signed by Wang Ping, but the AP says that's almost certainly a pseudonym. (More Gary Locke stories.)

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