In this hypersensitive world, even useful phrases with no apparent misanthropy intended are verboten, if the wrong racial or ethnic nerve is touched. Tsk! (But it's not safe to assume that because you don't find derogatory content, it wasn't meant that way originally.)

I was shocked that a Chinese colleague objected to use of "Chinese Wall" to describe an ethical 'wall' constructed around certain lawyers in the firm who are not to discuss the matter with those on the other side of the wall, for professional responsibility purposes. Paranoia, I think, led him to interpret this as a culturally insensitive reference to Chinese "inscrutability" or emotional coldness. But, really: I mean, if you want a good generic term for an impassable barrier, of immediate universal utility, "Chinese wall" would seem to be the logical choice, wouldn't it?

Similarly, in professional kitchens, "China cap" is the name for a cone-shaped (metal) colander. It once felt somewhat racist to say and hear, because of the mental associations with Coolies and their historical treatment and sterotyping in the West. But again, it's a very evocative term, that, like Chinese Wall, immediately conveys to the listener what is meant.

If you have a problem with these kinds of terms, one wonders what you do with "German shepherd" or "Wiener schnitzel". I wonder if the middle eastern languages' (Arab./Farsi) reference to oranges as "portugal" is taken by hypersensitive Iberians as somehow ethnically offensive, too.