I think it’s no different to eg Florida man...

"Is there a term besides "Mexican" that you prefer? Something less offensive?" -- Michael Scott

In the american context it actually is different. Chinaman is a derogatory term for a chinese person and pretty offensive. Its obviously not used in a derogatory way in this context but the association that is made is distracting from the article’s content.

Florida man does not carry this cultural baggage.

Ah, Florida Man, the hero we deserve but not the one we need.

It's really sad that so many HN users would downvote comments like this. It just goes to show that insulting Asians really isn't taken seriously.

Thank you for bringing it up. I also don't understand why some people get so offended when they are told that certain words can cause harm to others.

I always try to be respectful and if someone tells me that a word or a name hurts them, then I just won't use it around them.