A Wall Street Journal op-ed about China’s economy titled “China Is the Real Sick Man of Asia” prompted Beijing to yank the credentials of three reporters and order them to leave the country. Now, 53 of the paper’s China team are asking the WSJ to apologize for using a phrase that many in China saw as racist. “This is not about editorial independence or the sanctity of the divide between news and opinion,” they wrote in an email to paper brass. “It is about the mistaken choice of a headline that was deeply offensive to many people, not just in China. We find the argument that no offense was intended to be unconvincing: Someone should have known that it would cause widespread offense. If they didn’t know that, they made a bad mistake, and should correct it and apologize.” A Journal spokesman indicates there are no plans to issue an apology.
