EU's Oettinger issues apology over Chinese 'slitty-eyed' slur

EU's Oettinger issues apology over Chinese 'slitty-eyed' slur
By Euronews
Share this articleComments
Share this articleClose Button

Germany’s EU commissioner Gunter Oettinger finally apologised on Thursday for a speech in which he called Chinese officials “slitty-eyed” and joked about gay…

ADVERTISEMENT

Germany’s EU commissioner Gunter Oettinger finally apologised on Thursday for a speech in which he called Chinese officials “slitty-eyed” and joked about gay marriage.

The speech to German business leaders sparked outrage when it was posted online last week; the centre-right politician, a member of Angela Merkel’s CDU party, also described a Chinese delegation as having “their hair brushed from left to right with black shoe polish”.

Oettinger had insisted on Wednesday that he had nothing to apologise for.

That stance was criticised by a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson who said the comments by Oettinger showed “a baffling sense of superiority entrenched in some western politicians”.

“I can now see that the words I used have created bad feelings and may even have hurt people. This was not my intention and I would like to apologise for any remark that was not as respectful as it should have been,” he said in a statement.

The 63-year-old also said he had been misquoted by Belgian newspaper Le Soir, which reported that he had described Wallonia as a “micro region run by Communists”.

Share this articleComments

You might also like

Should the EU continue to support Ukraine? Our poll finds Europeans are in favour

Europe’s destiny intertwined with Ukraine’s, EU Liberals chief says in Kyiv

EU countries seal hard-line deal on Ukrainian grain, raising possibility of tariffs