Chinese media reports say that the CEO of Daimler Trucks and Buses China has insulted the Chinese people following an argument over a parking space.
Rainer Gaertner, CEO of Daimler Trucks and Buses China, got into an argument with a Chinese resident over a parking spot on Sunday in Shunyi in northeastern Beijing, according to a story on the Chinese domestic news portal sohu.com. “I am in China one year already. The first thing I learned here is that all you Chinese are bastards,” the story reported Gaertner as saying.
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The China-based Global Times reported that Daimler Greater China is ‘cooperating fully with authorities investigating the case of an executive who allegedly insulted the Chinese people’.
The same report said that after hearing what Gaertner said, ‘people nearby approached to argue with him, but Gaertner pulled out some pepper spray and attacked them’. One person was injured, the report added.
The company reportedly said in a statement to the Global Times that it ‘deeply regrets this personal argument, the content of which does not in any way represent the views of the company’.
‘Like everywhere, Daimler has long been upholding the values of equality and mutual-respect in China, and is dedicated to shouldering its social responsibilities,’ it added in a statement carried on news site China.org.cn.
Reports also suggest that Chinese social media is very active on the matter with plenty of outrage being expressed.
