'If Team WE gets a Korean player, I'll stop watching': Chinese fans rant about WE's new Korean talent

The changes to China’s beloved Team WE are coming quickly now. Following the appointment of former Korean pro Hiro as the team’s new coach, there have been reports that Hiro is looking for high-elo players on the Korean servers, although exactly why isn’t clear. Is Hiro planning to replace some, or all, of WE’s Chinese players with Koreans? Nobody knows for sure, but the idea that one of China’s signature teams could “become Korean” is definitely a tough pill to swallow for many Chinese fans, especially given the widespread resentment of Korea among many Chinese gamers.

(See: Team WE’s new Korean coach Hiro speaks out on the language barrier, OMG, the Chinese scene, and more)

Comments on the news are mixed, and I’ve translated some selected comments below. Note that the Chinese term bangzi, which literally means “stick”, is a derogatory term for Koreans.

There are a bunch of extremely negative comments, like the ones below:

Beijing user:

Haha, Koreans on a Chinese team, what is the meaning of that? It’s like the Chinese national soccer team, everywhere you look there are foreign helpers. If WE uses a Korean player, I will immediately stop watching any WE matches.

Jilin user:

WE found a bangzi to be their daddy; traitor team. Now everyone is sickened by this team.

Fujian user:

Haha, letting Korean bangzi come to WE and replace our Chinese players? I will dare to go to the LPL in Shanghai and beat up the coach…using a bangzi. [The second use of bangzi here is a play on words since the word means both “stick” and “Korean”].

Jindu de Yaoqi: