BRUSSELS: EU Commis­sioner Guenther Oettinger on Thursday apologised for derogatory remarks about Chinese people, whom he dubbed “slitty eyes” in a speech last month.

“I can now see that the words I used have created bad feelings and may even have hurt people. This was not my intention and I would like to apologise for any remark that was not as respectful as it should have been,” Oettinger said in a statement.

China voiced its disdain on Wednesday over his remarks, saying they reve­al­ed “a baffling sense of superiority entrenched in some Western politicians”.

In Thursday’s statement, he did not refer to any specific remarks and said his intention had been to give Germany a “wake-up call” over China’s increasing power.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2016