After a flurry of criticisms from the media and netizens from the Philippines and Vietnam, the Beijing restaurant’s manager, calling only himself as Wang, took down the sign that read: “This shop does not receive the Japanese, the Philippines, the Vietnamese and dog(s).” But, not because he felt remorse for offending anybody’s feelings. He took it down “because it was a lot of bother.”
Wang told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that he didn’t have any regrets; he “was just getting too many phone calls about it.” In fact, he seemed rather surprised, if not baffled, by the attention it garnered and was firm that he will not apologize for it. He even suggested that the sign was just misinterpreted. “Maybe people misunderstood our meaning… it only said we would not serve customers from those countries,” he said.
The way the sign was worded struck a nerve, particularly because during China’s colonial-era, British-owned stores and restaurants had also refused to provide service to Chinese nationals. There was supposedly a sign outside a Shanghai park that read “No Dogs and Chinese allowed,” which fueled the Communist propaganda, and was even featured in a 1972 film starring Bruce Lee called Fists of Fury. However, many historians have already debunked the existence of such a sign. Well, when future historians look back on this controversy about the restaurant in Beijing that held a sign on its window placing in the same breath the Japanese, the Filipinos, the Vietnamese and dogs, they would confirm that the sign did, in fact, exist.
[via GMA News]