November 1, 2016
Günther Oettinger, a European commissioner from Germany, in 2014.
Thierry Charlier/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
BERLIN — One of the most powerful people in Brussels, Günther Oettinger, has come under fire for reportedly referring to Chinese people as “slit-eyes” and “sly dogs” in a speech to business leaders in Hamburg.
Leaders in Berlin and Brussels sought on Monday to tamp down the uproar — fueled by a video of the end of the speech, in which he went on to make disparaging remarks about homosexuals — after Mr. Oettinger broke his silence over the weekend to explain the comments. Although the comments about Chinese people were not captured on film, he has not denied multiple reports that he made them.
In an interview with the German newspaper Die Welt, published on Sunday, Mr. Oettinger, who was appointed by Germany to the European Commission, said his comments were intended to rattle his German audience out of a sense of complacency. But to some observers, Mr. Oettinger only dug himself into a deeper hole.
Die Welt said to Mr. Oettinger, “You spoke of ‘slit-eyes.’”
Mr. Oettinger responded, “It was a rather crude expression that was in no way meant to be disrespectful to the Chinese.”
Die Welt: “What did you mean when you spoke of ‘sly dogs’ and ‘slit-eyes’?”
Mr. Oettinger: “I wanted to show how dynamic the world is in the digital sector, and generally in sectors influenced by technology. And the challenges we face in catching up to the enormous tempo of countries such as China and South Korea. And I wanted to warn against complacency in this context.”
Die Welt: “What does that have to do with ‘sly dogs’?”
Mr. Oettinger: “The Chinese are simply very clever, and they see exactly where Europe has a technological advantage. How can they catch up? And then they come and buy up what they can’t catch up to. On the flip side, European companies face great hurdles.”
In the video, which was posted to social media by Sebastian Marquardt, a publisher who was in the audience, Mr. Oettinger suggested that same-sex marriage might soon be “obligatory” in Germany. (Germany offers registered life partnerships but does not have same-sex marriage.)
Officials in Berlin and Brussels found themselves struggling on Monday to account for the remarks by Mr. Oettinger, who is in line for an even more powerful job, that of vice president of the European Commission, which is the executive arm of the European Union.
In Berlin, Steffen Seibert, the chief spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel, told reporters that Mr. Oettinger “of course” still enjoyed the support of the chancellor and her government. He declined to comment further.
In Brussels, Margaritis Schinas, the chief spokesman for the commission, said the interview with Die Welt was an adequate response to the matter.
“He provided some pretty clear explanations and made his position pretty clear, and I don’t think the commission has anything to add to what he said,” he said at a news conference in Brussels.
When reminded of reports that Mr. Oettinger had also made disparaging comments about women, gay people and the Wallonia region of Belgium — his comments about Wallonia, which Mr. Oettinger reportedly said was “run by communists,” nearly scuttled a trade deal between the European Union and Canada — Mr. Schinas took a guarded approach.
“As to why, and the explanations around this video, I think that we have to listen to what Günther Oettinger has to say,” Mr. Schinas said. “I will refrain from any characterization or value judgment that one can make of the explanations.”
Mr. Schinas said the European Commission did not have the power to investigate Mr. Oettinger for his choice of words.
Asked if Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, had discussed the matter with Mr. Oettinger, Mr. Schinas suggested that he had not. “We were 100 percent occupied with CETA,” he said, referring to the trade deal, which was signed on Sunday.
While Brussels is known for carefully parsed language, Mr. Oettinger is not the first to stir concerns there with disparaging remarks.
In 2004, Frits Bolkestein, a center-right Dutch politician and a European commissioner for trade among member states, drew criticism for saying that Ukraine and Belarus would be more easily accepted into the European Union than Turkey because “those countries are more European than Turkey,” a comment that was seen as an implicit reference to Turkey being a majority-Muslim nation.
Also that year, Rocco Buttiglione, an Italian nominee to become the justice and home affairs commissioner, acknowledged considering homosexuality to be sinful.
“I may think that homosexuality is a sin, and this has no effect on politics, unless I say that homosexuality is a crime,” he said. (Mr. Buttiglione eventually withdrew his nomination after a storm of criticism.)
Mr. Oettinger has found both critics and detractors.
Jan Philipp Albrecht, a German member of the European Parliament, likened Mr. Oettinger’s remarks to those of Donald J. Trump, the Republican nominee for president of the United States.
“This is the moment where EU leaders can prove that they won’t let someone like Trump become/stay top decision maker,” Mr. Albrecht, a member of the Greens, wrote on Twitter.
Paul Magnette, the leader of Wallonia, reacted angrily to a speech last week in which Mr. Oettinger disparaged it as a communist-run “micro-region” that he said was “blocking” Europe.
“The comments by Mr. Oettinger are unworthy of an E.U. Commissioner,” Mr. Magnette, a former political science professor, wrote on Twitter.
The response in Germany was more muted, with some news outlets voicing support for Mr. Oettinger and others dismissing the uproar as a display of excessive political correctness.
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