The final solution of the Chinese question

“Should we allow the Chinese to live?” 

By Adam Minter

Harsh words from the mouth of cute babes. 
Sometimes something happens in the U.S. that barely registers there but matters a great deal in China. 

Just ask Jimmy Kimmel.
The comedian has become a symbol of perceived American prejudices against Chinese, thanks to a segment during the episode of his late-night talk show on ABC, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” 

The notion that such discrimination exists has long festered in Chinese newspapers and on the country’s microblogs (not to mention in private conversations) -- often with references to historical precedents such as the late 19th century’s Chinese Exclusion Act, whereby Chinese immigration to the U.S. was severely restricted. 

Kimmel inadvertently provided a contemporary example of such sentiment.
The offending bit occurred in a segment called “Kids Table,” which featured young children commenting on current events with Kimmel moderating like a Sunday morning talk-show host. 

Kimmel prodded the children on the repercussions of the U.S. government shutdown.
“America owes China a lot of money, $1.3 trillion. How should we pay them back?” Kimmel asks. Immediately, one of the children, a six-year-old, offers an answer that concludes, “Kill everyone in China.” 

Kimmel chuckles and responds, “That’s an interesting idea.” 

Later, Kimmel asks: “Should we allow the Chinese to live?” 

The children appear to be split -- but Kimmel still gives them space to discuss the merits of doing so.

It’s not hard to understand why the Chinese were so upset. 

One of the most common Chinese responses to the segment has been to equate it with anti-Jewish Nazi propaganda.

“Chinese believe that these words of racial discrimination are similar to those used by the Nazis in the 1930s,” Yang Yanqi, a Beijing school teacher, wrote in the influential state-owned Beijing Youth Daily newspaper on Nov. 1.

The Nazi comparison has had many over-the-top moments (if it wasn’t overblown from the start). 

One Facebook page, “Investigate Jimmy Kimmel Kid’s Table Show on ABC Network,” features a picture of Kimmel seated next to a Nazi flag.

Though Facebook is officially blocked in China, the page has been “liked” more than 7,700 times (strongly suggesting support from outside the country, as well from those in mainland China with virtual private networks and other means around the Great Firewall). 

Nevertheless, the numerous references to Nazis are but one manifestation of a pervasive sense, in the wake of the segment’s broadcast, that China and Chinese aren’t fully respected in American society, especially compared with other immigrant groups. 

Such Chinese frustrations are sometimes expressed with a candor that many in the U.S. might find impolite or socially intolerable. (In China, racial discussions and comparisons that might make Americans squirm are often perfectly acceptable.) 

For example, on Oct. 29, Yang Fei, a reporter with state-owned China Radio International, noted: “The U.S. has a double standard. Discrimination against African-Americans and Jews is considered politically incorrect, while remarks that insult China appear again and again..”
On Oct. 27, a user of Sina Weibo, China’s most popular microblogging service, who identifies himself as located “overseas” tweeted: “But if those kids said kill the blacks, Muslims or Jews, I think ABC would delete their words. Even if ABC dared to broadcast it, the other minorities wouldn’t stand for it. This is my personal experience living in the U.S.”
The anger didn’t seem to upset ABC or Kimmel, at least initially. 

The network waited until Oct. 25 to send out its apology as a faxed letter to the 80-20 National Asian American Political Action Committee. 

In it, ABC claims that it would never purposely upset “the Chinese community.” 

In China, these apologies have done little to convince commentators that the underlying cause of the segment -- a discriminatory attitude toward Chinese -- has changed. 

In recent days, some commentators in China’s state news media have begun framing the issue in political terms. 

On Oct. 31, the nationalist state-owned Global Times newspaper ran a commentary in which the Kimmel episode was framed as an example of a “dated mindset” that still embraces American exceptionalism while disregarding China’s rise.