Yeah, but not I am " a Chinese". It just instantly poses the question " a Chinese what?" in my mind…
Yes. I’ve heard this debate, and it’s complete bullshit. Ask the Viennese.[/quote]
Well obviously the argument that the -ese suffix is racist sounds like bullshit on the face of it! That’s why I found it interesting, because it’s such a bizarre claim! If you are someone who knows what arguments were advanced, would you like to share, or is it such bs that it’s not worth discussing?[/quote]
from the 3rd definition
[quote]
-ese
suffix
Definitions:
-
from, of, native to, or inhabiting a particular place
Taiwanese -
the language of a particular place
Chinese -
the style of language of a particular group ( disapproving )
officialese [/quote]
It is then argued that the "-ese " ending was given to Asians as a deliberate put down; the chronology is ass-backward, with the third definition being a later (slang) application
The “He is a Chinese” formation appears in the Junior High School Grade One English text.
I heard that Annabel Chong wrote that textbook through her subsidiary educational charity.
I’m a Chinese.
You’re a Chinese.
He’s a Chinese.
She’s a Chinese.
We’re a Chinese.
They’re a Chinese.
[quote=“MikeN”]
[quote]
…
- the style of language of a particular group ( disapproving )
officialese [/quote]
It is then argued that the "-ese " ending was given to Asians as a deliberate put down; the chronology is ass-backward, with the third definition being a later (slang) application[/quote]
Truly ass-backward! 
Chinese is an adjective. A Chinese dumpling, a Chinese meal, etc. is something you have in a hurry.
We absolutely can amend adjectives to pronouns like I and He; I am Chinese/He is late/I am happy/He is Burmese.
[/quote]
I like your idea about the Tsingtao 
But in that last sentence above… do you mean apply adjectives to pronouns? But what’s being discussed here is the use of Chinese as a noun, right?
Not saying I agree with the opinion put forth in the China Daily on this very subject a few days ago, but here
[quote=“smell the glove”]Not saying I agree with the opinion put forth in the China Daily on this very subject a few days ago, but here
I meant the dictionary references. 
Holy hell, I somehow missed clicking the “Comment on this article” link - 31 comments!!! Now there’s food for thought… 
Maybe Chinese should be treated like “Islam”. A person believes in Islam, you have Islamic beliefs, but you are a Muslim. (Of course, that doesn’t hold water since you can also be Muslim, but you get the idea.)
A person lives in China (or the republic thereof), they speak Chinese, but they are… Han. Or maybe Hanren, so that nobody will mistake Harrison Ford for Chinese.
“I’m a Hanren. I speak Chinese.”
I wonder if the difficulty we are experiencing with the word “Chinese” doesn’t have to do with the fact that the Chinese themselves did not choose the name and the words many people used to use before such as “Chinaman” are not PC. When China was still economically and politically weak, you could get away with using the word “Chinaman”, but now that China is getting stronger, it isn’t politic to do it anymore. Maybe, we could compare it to the word “Aboriginal”. If indigenous Australians gained political and economic power, people would definitely have to reconsider the the appropriateness of the term.
Another problem with the word “Chinese” is the fact that it does not discribe a single culture. Various traditions, languages and religious groups fall under the term “Chinese”. You could also be Chinese if you were born in China, Singapore, Taiwan, the USA, Canada, etc.
Terms that are chosen by the people to describe themselves are usually not problamatic.
Merriam-Webster.com indicates that ‘Chinese’ is a plural noun and the awkwardness people have acknowledged about saying ‘I’m a Chinese’ is because we implicitly understand it to be a plural noun. Just like we don’t say ‘I’m a people,’ because ‘people’ is plural. Of course,‘people’ has a singluar form ‘person’, but there isn’t a singluar form of ‘Chinese’.
What other words are similar?
You cannot say … either.
French
Japanese
Could it be the sounds the words end in?
ch
ese
ch-
crotch
conch
bitch
bunch
lunch
grouch
ese-
cheese
puleeese
teese
bees knees
Plurals: crotches, conches, bitches, bunches, lunches, grouches
cheeses, puleeses, teases…wait! I think I’ve picked up on the pattern.
I’m a Chinese.