It's a good read for those interested in how the Chinese view Gary Locke--and other Chinese Americans.A few days ago in Beijing, as Gary Locke wrapped up his tenure as United States ambassador to China, he was lambasted in a Chinese state media editorial. The piece called Locke a "guide dog." It said he had stirred an "evil wind." Worst of all, it called him a "banana."
As in yellow on the outside and white on the inside. It's a slur, akin to "Oreo" for African-Americans or "coconut" for Hispanics, used by people of a given ethnic group to judge another member of that group for being insufficiently, well, ethnic. The point of saying a person of color is "white inside" is to accuse him of being a race traitor, ashamed or in denial of his true heritage.
Like I mentioned in my previous thread: viewtopic.php?t=22232 (The advantages and disadvantages of being an Asian in China), you get the good with the bad.
I think in this case, it was more about Gary Locke being viewed as an 'American government mouthpiece,' than bashing him for being Chinese American and not being able to speak the language.
There's still some benefit to being an Asian American in China, unlike what the article tries to imply; I thought the editorial was too negative and full of anti-China rhetoric; on the other hand, Eric Liu (the writer of the story) is correct when he asserts that the Chinese still expect strong loyalty from overseas Chinese in the diaspora; it's similar to what the Koreans living in Korea expect of overseas Koreans coming back to the country...