Too funny.
Sustainable Business Oregon reports,
Grape Solar CEO Ocean Yuan on Tuesday urged U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley to disassociate themselves from German solar panel-maker SolarWorld AG over a Christmas card he calls “racist.”
Yuan, a Chinese-American, said he was “outraged and disgusted” over a Christmas card he claims was sent by SolarWorld to its German customers featuring a caricature of an Asian man wearing a Santa suit.
“This card … demeans and offends me as a Chinese American and everyone of Chinese descent,” Yuan said in a letter sent to Wyden and Merkley, both Oregon Democrats.
Both Wyden and Merkley have expressed support for an effort by SolarWorld’s Hillsboro-based U.S. division to seek a trade action against Chinese rivals. SolarWorld argues that China has been dumping low-cost, subsidized panels into the U.S. market.
Yuan — whose Eugene-based Grape Solar is a major distributor of solar panels made from Chinese components — said Merkley and Wyden should be “embarrassed and outraged by the blatantly racist card.”
In a response, SolarWorld indicated that the card was sent only to a “limited number” of recipients and was not reviewed by anyone at Hillsboro-based SolarWorld Industries America Inc…
I find the card offensive, and I’m a white guy. Demeaning a nationality/culture has no place in the professional world today. Period.
Also, note that SolarWorld is just as foreign as a Chinese company; they are German-owned and their profits go to German stockholders. Furthermore, their tariff is raising prices for ALL American businesses associated with green energy. Having more competition is a good thing for American businesses, and restrictive trade cases only serve as a handout for a few specific companies that are more than paid for on the backs of everyone else.
I do work in the solar industry, and I can say with certainty that our California-based business has much less opportunity, and all Californian ratepayers are paying higher energy prices, due to this BS trade case.
Like most “green” jobs, Solyndra was a pure scam/ slush fund designed to line the coffers of the Democrat Party.
Playing ‘the race card’ is the last refuge of (some) scoundrels. Fact is, the ‘green’ jobs Obama has created have largely been overseas jobs. Swirly light bulbs in China, electric cars in Finland, wind turbines in Sweden, the list goes on. In the US, ‘green’ companies like Solyndra go bankrupt.
Some people will do or say anything to try to make their competition look bad even if it means playing the race card. Get over it And quit crying already. You should be offended about being called a second class American. I would think that you would want to be called an American of Chinese descent, but being called an “anything”/American makes you seam insignificant, and not as worthy as an American straight-up.
Stupid American!
That Santa is obviously Mongolian.
How was this Greeting Card “racist”? It is a compliment to the Chinese.
For the readers who don’t do German, the note says:
Wishlist 2012
– Best price
– Highest quality
– Secure warranties
– Local service
– Clean production
– Social standards
– German jobs