China Taunts U.S. Ambassador

After a farewell news conference on Thursday, outgoing U.S. Ambassador Gary F. Locke was mocked by the state-run China News Service, which issued a review mimicking Mao’s famous essay, “Farewell, Leighton Stuart.” The review states that, “Gary Locke is a U.S.-born, third-generation Chinese-American, and his being a banana—‘yellow skin and white heart’—became an advantage for Obama’s foreign policy.’’ Banana is considered an offensive term by Asian Americans. Mao’s essay in 1949 was a parting shot to the last American ambassador to the Nationalist Chiang Kai-Shek government. The review by the China News Service, in reference to Locke’s trips to Tibet, stated that “after a while, a banana will inevitably start to rot.”