Since the debate on the Chinese being racists is now in the open, I'll like to share this article by Martin Jacques which appeared in The Guardian sometime back. I provide the link here :

Jacques is a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics. The death of his wife, Harinder Veriah (an Indian Malaysian) in 2000 in a Hong Kong hospital triggered an outcry which culminated in this summer's announcement by the Hong Kong government that it would introduce anti-racist legislation for the first time.

Being Chinese myself, when I first read the article, I was at first skeptical, but felt deep in my heart that parts of his comments rung true. Here I append part of his article:

'... there is a global racial hierarchy that helps to shape the power and the prejudices of each race. At the top of this hierarchy are whites. The reasons are deep-rooted and profound. White societies have been the global top dogs for half a millennium, ever since Chinese civilisation went into decline.

' ... Whites are the only race that never suffers any kind of systemic racism anywhere in the world. And the impact of white racism has been far more profound and baneful than any other: it remains the only racism with global reach.

'... The Chinese - like the Japanese - widely consider themselves to be number two in the pecking order and look down upon all other races as inferior. Their respect for whites is also grudging - many Chinese believe that western hegemony is, in effect, held on no more than prolonged leasehold.

'Those below the Chinese and the Japanese in the hierarchy are invariably people of colour (both Chinese and Japanese often like to see themselves as white, or nearly white). At the bottom of the pile, virtually everywhere it would seem, are those of African descent, the only exception in certain cases being the indigenous peoples ...'.

I hope every Chinese will read his article with an open mind and then look in the mirror and ask themselves 'Am I racist?'. Like myself, you may not like what you see.