A foreign employee at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing has been fired and ordered to leave the country after several racist comments he posted about Chinese people went viral on social media.
Mark Kolars, who worked with CAS Institute of Automation as a visual effects specialist since 2012, was dismissed last Thursday after screenshots of inappropriate LinkedIn comments were shared on Weibo. The Austria native went on a racism-fueled rant on the professional networking site, referring to Chinese men as “dirty yellow guys, talking trash all day,” and concluded one message by writing “Without us to begin with you would still wear rice heads.” (What is a ‘rice head’ and how do you wear it? We have no idea.)
Image via @瞭望/Weibo
According to Kolars’ LinkedIn profile (which was taken offline last Wednesday), he has 26 years of experience living and working in China. In another comment, he mentions that his son is “a mix of European Caucasian and Asien (sic) Chinese blood,” while claiming that “Europe as (sic) bench mark which China will never reach. Not smart enough. Inbreeding for too long.”
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Last Friday, Beijing police announced that Kolars was fired and his work-related residence permit was canceled on the same day, according to South China Morning Post. He has also been ordered to exit the country, although authorities did not specify how soon he would have to leave.
Kolars did apologize last Tuesday via LinkedIn, saying his messages were “inappropriate and racist in nature and hurt the feelings of my Chinese friends and colleagues,” as cited by SCMP. However, Chinese netizens are still taken aback by the comments.
“After seeing this foreigners’ garbage comments, he did not learn respect or to be grateful, his ability is not welcome. He should be deported and placed on a list for those who are not welcome [to China],” posted one Weibo user on the day Kolars was sacked by CAS. Another netizen posted, “After cursing Chinese people, you’re so quick to ‘apologize’?”
A reoccurring theme among Chinese netizens was the notion that Kolars earned a paycheck in China while harboring this type of sentiment towards Chinese people. “I support the firing, you can’t earn a salary in China while not understanding how to respect people,” one person posted, while another wrote, “Respect is mutual, if you earn money, don’t insult people!”
In October 2018, two expats in Shenzhen came under fire after multiple derogatory comments were made on a WeChat group, including offensive comments that referenced the Nanjing Massacre. Local authorities were reportedly investigating the case, although it’s not clear what came about as a result of the comments.
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[Cover image via @长春情报站/Weibo ]
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