Chinese media said the incident took place in the elite Shunyi suburb northeast of Beijing in a parking lot on Sunday. The argument began when Gaertner was parking and cut into a local driver’s car which was going in reverse. As the cross-fire sparked, Gaertner shouted: "I have been in China one year already; the first thing I learned here is: All you Chinese are bastards!" local media site him as saying. The conflict attracted the attention of passers-by and Gaertner pulled out pepper spray.
The friend of a girl who was hurt during the row wrote about the incident on Weibo, a service similar to Twitter. Her post went viral and sparked outrage.
On Monday Daimler expressed regret and apologized for the incident saying they had fired Gaertner.
Weibo users wrote numerous posts about the incident.
“We’d better kick him out of the country and never let him back,” user 手机用户1791774623 wrote.
“If you cash in on the Chinese, don’t be arrogant towards them,” user KillinTony advised.
“Such foreigners do well thanks to China’s economic success. The Chinese should not forget that foreigners are not better than they are. We don’t have to fuss at their sight and don’t have to give them any privileges,” user 掉入青宇出不来 said.
“And all that just to calm down one Chinese guy?” user the_hood wrote to express his doubts about the Daimler representative’s sincerity.
'@Daimler China Sacks German Executive over Racist Remarks on Chinese Peoplehttps://t.co/hpHJVu014o pic.twitter.com/eyG7UoLLsP
— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) 21 ноября 2016 г.
Meanwhile, observers paid more attention to the call on social media to stop buying Daimler’s cars. The Associated Press agency reminded that China is the world's biggest automotive market, and Chinese consumers and media are particularly sensitive to stories about alleged Western arrogance and the perception that outside companies take advantage of Chinese consumers, a feeling rooted in the history of imperial powers carving up China for their own interests.
Calls to boycott particular companies or even entire countries circulate frequently online in response to perceived slights to Chinese dignity, and can sometimes have a notable effect on sales. For example, several years ago Japanese companies and restaurants bore huge losses due to public boycott and mass anti-Japanese protests amid the escalation of Sino-Japanese territorial dispute, the AP wrote.
The bitter experience of Japan might have inspired the German carmaker to apologize, Russian economy expert Mikhail Belyaev assumes.
“The personnel decision made by Daimler is excessively strict by European standards. I think that it was aimed at making up with Chinese buyers and may be even gaining their respect in order to maintain the company’s position in Chinese car market,” Belyaev told Sputnik China.
He added that the stance taken by the company was also important for its image inside of Europe.
“It was necessary to demonstrate that the Daimler’s senior managers who are close to the German government stand on principal moral grounds denying any discrimination on grounds of race. Taking into account upcoming elections in Germany and Angela Merkel’s migration policy, I think that the company wanted their statement to be heard in Europe,” the expert said.
Gaertner’s scandal was not the only racist rant of European chiefs lately. About a month ago Germany’s EU commissioner, Günther Oettinger made a speech in Hamburg in which he talked about Europe and the challenges it faces with China. During the speech, he referred to the Chinese as ‘slant eyes’(Schlitzaugen).
Such moods in society lead to tragic outcomes. On August 21 several thousand ethnic Chinese staged a protest march in Paris over the fatal mugging of a Chinese tailor last month.
These incidents take place amid China’s growing economic influence in European markets which often culminates in European companies’ takeover.
