Kinokondena ng mga Filipino at binabatikos sa News & Current Affairs programs ng mga TV network ang artikulo na isinulat ng Hong Kong national na si Chip Tsao.
Si Chip ay dating reporter ng BBC, best-selling author at columnist ng Apple Daily, Next Magazineat CUP Magazine.
"Cheap" ang tingin ngayon ng mga Pilipino kay Chip dahil sa kanyang artikulo na nalathala noong March 27 at nagpapatunay na mababa ang tingin niya sa ating lahi at sa mga domestic helper. Sa kanyang artikulo na may pamagat na "The War at Home," tinawag ni Chip na "nation of servants" ang Pilipinas.
Narito ang kabuuan ng kanyang article:
"The Russians sank a Hong Kong freighter last month, killing the seven Chinese seamen on board. We can live with that—Lenin and Stalin were once the ideological mentors of all Chinese people. The Japanese planted a flag on Diàoyú Island. That's no big problem—we Hong Kong Chinese love Japanese cartoons, Hello Kitty, and shopping in Shinjuku, let alone our round-the-clock obsession with karaoke.
"But hold on—even the Filipinos? Manila has just claimed sovereignty over the scattered rocks in the South China Sea called the Spratly Islands, complete with a blatant threat from its congress to send gunboats to the South China Sea to defend the islands from China if necessary. This is beyond reproach. The reason: there are more than 130,000 Filipina maids working as $3,580-a-month cheap labor in Hong Kong. As a nation of servants, you don't flex your muscles at your master, from whom you earn most of your bread and butter.
"As a patriotic Chinese man, the news has made my blood boil. I summoned Louisa, my domestic assistant who holds a degree in international politics from the University of Manila, hung a map on the wall, and gave her a harsh lecture. I sternly warned her that if she wants her wages increased next year, she had better tell every one of her compatriots in Statue Square on Sunday that the entirety of the Spratly Islands belongs to China.
"Grimly, I told her that if war breaks out between the Philippines and China, I would have to end her employment and send her straight home, because I would not risk the crime of treason for sponsoring an enemy of the state by paying her to wash my toilet and clean my windows 16 hours a day. With that money, she would pay taxes to her government, and they would fund a navy to invade our motherland and deeply hurt my feelings.
"Oh yes. The government of the Philippines would certainly be wrong if they think we Chinese are prepared to swallow their insult and sit back and lose a Falkland Islands War in the Far East. They may have Barack Obama and the hawkish American military behind them, but we have a hostage in each of our homes in the Mid-Levels or higher. Some of my friends told me they have already declared a state of emergency at home. Their maids have been made to shout 'China, Madam/Sir' loudly whenever they hear the word 'Spratly.' They say the indoctrination is working as wonderfully as when we used to shout, 'Long live Chairman Mao!' at the sight of a portrait of our Great Leader during the Cultural Revolution. I'm not sure if that's going a bit too far, at least for the time being."
Na-publish ang artikulo sa Hong Kong Online at napuno na ng mga pagbatikos ang comments box ng website dahil sa isinulat ni Tsao.
Sa Pilipinas, nagsalita na sa mga news program ang mga pulitiko at government official na humihingi ng retraction at public apology mula kay Tsao.
Sa latest development ng insidenteng ito ay nag-issue na ng apology ang publisher ng HK Magazine na Asia City Publishing House tatlong araw pagkatapos lumabas ng artikulo ni Tsao para sa "politically incorrect article."
Pero bagamat inamin nila na offensive ang column ni Tsao ay ipinagtanggol din nila ito sa pagsasabing "satirical" ito at maaaring i-interpret "in different ways."
Sa kasalukuyan, wala pang personal na apology mula kay Tsao tungkol sa kanyang isinulat.