Why Chinese People Accuse Apple Worker’s Photo of Promoting Racism

• Chinese social media users express outrage over the appearance of an Apple employee on the company’s website.
• Unsubstantiated claims suggest that Apple purposely selected the employee to mock China.
• However, it is revealed that the employee works in California, not in an Apple store in China, according to The Global Times.

Chinese social media is in an uproar over an Apple employee featured in a photo on the company’s website, with claims that the selection was meant to mock China.

These baseless complaints spread rapidly on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, gaining 180 million views and becoming the platform’s top trending topic, according to data from Insider.

The focus of the anger is primarily directed at the employee’s braided hair and facial features, which online users accused Apple of using to perpetuate Western stereotypes of Chinese people, specifically the traditional Chinese pigtail.

Chinese individuals often object to depictions reminiscent of “Fu Manchu,” an East Asian villain with a pigtail, drooping whiskers, and narrow eyes commonly portrayed in early 20th-Century Western media. Chinese state media has condemned this portrayal as deeply racist.

“I don’t know if it’s because people at Apple are so stupid and watch American movies that deliberately demean China and depict Chinese villains with pigtails, and then think this is the image of a Chinese person,” wrote one blogger.

A poll conducted by Pear Video, a Shanghai-based media company, asked viewers if they felt “uncomfortable” after seeing the employee’s photo. As of Tuesday, over 123,000 individuals voted in agreement, while 58,000 expressed that they saw nothing wrong with the photo.

Much of the online outrage stems from the misconception that the employee’s photo was exclusively featured on Apple’s Chinese website. However, The Global Times, a Chinese outlet closely aligned with the central government, reported that the employee actually works in California, not in a store in China.

Han Peng, a US correspondent for state outlet CGTN, also confirmed that the employee is Native American, not Chinese.

Bloggers on Weibo also discovered the same employee’s photo on Apple’s web pages for the US, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam.

Upon checking Apple’s store home page for various locations on Tuesday, Insider noticed that the employee’s photo was no longer displayed. It remains unclear whether the image was replaced or if it was part of a rotation of photos on the website.

Nevertheless, some individuals on Weibo continue to defend the complaints, stating that Apple’s actions reflect a disregard for Chinese taboos rather than intentional insult.

Hu Xijin, a popular columnist and former editor of The Global Times, called for calm and encouraged online users to await Apple’s response.

“On one hand, we must defend our nation’s dignity and counter obvious malicious provocations; on the other hand, we should not indulge in our own sensitivity,” he wrote.

However, Hu also cautioned American companies to exercise greater care and caution to avoid inadvertently causing misunderstandings among the Chinese population.

Chinese social media can swiftly and fiercely unleash nationalist backlash against Western companies perceived to have insulted China. For instance, fashion house Dolce & Gabbana faced consequences in 2018 when its founder was accused of racism towards China, leading to a boycott of the brand.

Similarly, Dior photographer Chen Man faced backlash in 2021 for a photo that offended social media users, despite her being Chinese herself.

Hollywood actor Simu Liu experienced a similar fate in 2021 after Chinese social media users accused him of making derogatory statements about Communist China.

Apple has not yet responded to a request for comment sent outside of regular business hours.

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