Chinese netizens outraged over Apple employee photo

Some accuse Apple of discrimination for using a racist photo of a stereotypically looking Asian person on its Chinese website. But it turns out that none of it is true.

An Apple employee's photo has caused a wave of online nationalism in China over the weekend. Netizens accuse Apple of discrimination for posting an allegedly "ugly" Asian employee's photo on its Chinese website.

Netizens say that the employee's appearance resembles that of a typical Chinese person from the Qing dynasty and characters from old racist cartoons in the West. Some claimed that the photo was only used on Apple's Chinese website to humiliate its costumers

It turns out that none of it is true. Chinese media later reported that Apple had confirmed to them the controversial photo is of a female Native American employee from California. And a simple search shows that the photo is used on Apple's websites in numerous regions, including the US. According to Apple’s website, the person in the photo is an Apple Watch specialist.

But netizens still believe the photo is offensive. In a popular online poll participated in by over 176k users, a large majority say the use of photo was "certainly inappropriate".

A nationalist cartoonist wrote on Weibo that he doesn't care if the employee was Native American or not. He said the person's look simply made him uncomfortable and he hopes that Apple could consider his feelings.

Another nationalist online commentator speculated that the photo was picked by people at Apple because that's how they believe Chinese people look based on American movies.

Han Peng, a US correspondent for Chinese state media CGTN, urged Chinese people to speak up against racial discrimination whenever they see it because "in America, if you don't say it, they will pretend it doesn't exist".

He went on to lament that people in the US are afraid of eating watermelons in front of Black people or telling Latinos to "go back to your home" because they might pull out a gun and that Chinese people can't say "well" in Chinese (Na Ge) because it sounds like the N word.

Han wrote that America can only achieve racial equality when people are not afraid to say to a Black person "well (in Chinese), your skin is so dark, I want to eat a watermelon".

Global Times commentator Hu Xijin, in his typical moderate tone, chimed in on the controversy, saying that Chinese people should stay rational instead of giving in to emotions. But he also called on Western companies to take into considerations the feelings of the Chinese people in their ads.

The backlash against Apple comes right after Chinese tech company Huawei's new phone was praised by Chinese media and netizens as a triumph over American sanctions. Apple's launch of iPhone 15 was reportedly met with less enthusiasm than before in China.

Chinese netizen's negative reactions to Apple's use of Native American employee's photo also stand out as a contradiction to Chinese state media's continuous efforts to report on discriminations Native Americans have received in the US.

In a popular Zhihu comment on the controversy, one netizen wrote: ”Seeking justice for Native Americans on a daily basis without even knowing what they look like.”