No diplomatic row after Chinese 'racist' detergent ad uproar

The recent uproar over a Chinese detergent advert that showed a ‘dirty’ black man rejected by a Chinese woman by shoving him into a washing machine only for him to come out as a clean Chinese man, might not create any diplomatic row. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }

This is the expectation of the Chinese government on Monday at a media briefing when Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying emphasized the good relationship China has with Africa and the respect they accord all races.

“Everyone can see that we are consistent in equality towards, and mutually respect, all countries, no matter their ethnicity or race. In fact, we are good brothers with African countries,” she said appealing to the public not to hype the “isolated case”.

The “racist” advertisement, which was running on Chinese television since April, was for Qiaobi laundry detergent owned by Shanghai Leishang Cosmetics.

The racist outcry commenced when the video was posted on Youtube last week garnering millions of views and strong condemnation worldwide.

The company however issued a statement on Saturday apologising for the advert but blamed foreign media for fueling the controversy.

“We express regret that the ad should have caused a controversy. But we will not shun responsibility for controversial content. We express our apology for the harm caused to the African people because of the spread of the ad and the over-amplification by the media,” the company said.

The advert has been deleted on some platforms but still running on Youtube and others.