Also, “It just didn’t occur to me” is not gonna be a convincing justification because it *clearly* did occur to her, as indicated by the asterisked quote - she knows very well the racial implication of the usage of the word “Chinese,” and chose to use it.

So, I’d like to ask the speaker why she *explicitly* decided to include the word “Chinese” here. Unless she can provide a convincing justification for the unnecessary usage of this explicit cultural reference, I see this as intentional racism. Don’t try to let it slide.