This is a recent New York Times news article on Canadian and United States computer security researchers who monitored a China-based computer spying ring hacked into classified and restricted documents from the highest levels of the Indian Defense Ministry: Researchers Trace Data Theft to Intruders in China.
Okay. Interesting story, I guess. The spy operation, called the "Shadow Network," systematically hacked into personal computers in government offices on several continents. But take note of the following paragraph:
The intruders even stole documents related to the travel of NATO forces in Afghanistan, illustrating that even though the Indian government was the primary target of the attacks, one chink in computer security can leave many nations exposed.I don't know if someone's trying to be clever, or it's just a coincidental, unfortunate choice of words, or maybe one of those subconscious things. But these are New York Times writers -- you can use better words to convey the same idea. I'm told that "chink" was changed to "gap" after the editor received complaints... but it looks like this version of the article is back up and running.
I never went to journalism school, and I just have this little blog here, but do I have a suggestion: how about avoiding the use of the term "chink" -- in whatever context -- when discussing anything having to with Chinese people? Same goes for "nip" and Japanese people. Everyone will just be better off.