A recent incident involved a Chinese man getting into physical confrontations with local youths in Syria after they mocked him with the phrase “Ching Chang Chong.” In response, Ali Zein Alabdin, a Syrian influencer with over one million followers in China, defended the term, claiming it lacks racist intent. He stated, “In many places abroad, especially in the Middle East and Arab nations, we use ‘Ching Chang Chong’ as a way to imitate Chinese; it doesn’t carry any malice.” He insisted that this expression isn’t meant to be unfriendly and labeled the reaction as ignorance.
These remarks have sparked outrage among many Chinese internet users, particularly given that Alabdin has lived in China for several years, has a Chinese wife, and actively engages in cultural exchanges, making him a symbol of China-Syria relations. According to Wikipedia, terms like “Ching chong,” “ching chang chong,” and “chung ching” are ethnic slurs used to ridicule or mimic the Chinese language, as well as people of Chinese descent or others perceived to be Chinese. These phrases derogatorily imitate Mandarin and Cantonese phonetics and have often been associated with assaults or threats against East Asians, similar to other racial slurs. The origins of this term trace back to when Chinese laborers assisted in building the Pacific Railroad, initially mocking the English accents of Chinese gold miners and evolving into a broader racial insult aimed at degrading Chinese individuals.
