Mark, this term stands for grovelling weasel. It is generally given to people who have lived in china and are dead set on keeping their "everything is good" perspective while completing letting the bad things fly over their heads. Also these people are vulnerable to doubt themselves whenever a local chinese disagrees with them over some issue (not always something the foreigner brings up himself/herself, either). Generally you would need to be uninformed of how the chinese side comes to these conclusions and also just prone to feel guilty and to please everyone. If you tend to have a "please everybody" mentality you probably shouldn't go to china. You just might end up feeling miserable.

Also, Silverboy's viewpoint on the racism in china is pretty much dead on. The chinese government teaches (read BRAINWASHES) children from when they are very young to hate western foreigners for the supposed humiliation brought upon to them, as well as towards the japanese. This propaganda of half truths and cliches makes chinese people suspicious of others, even other chinese who are from other regions (ask about Henanese people to a chinese personn). Of course any deaths in the millions caused by chinese themselves onto their own brethren as well as the continued bad treatment of darker skinned ethnic groups and poorer chinese are completely ignored. With a shrug of the shoulders and a "mei ban fa" they push their own ignorance under the rug.

One thing to remember when you go to china, the "saving face" mantra brought up by chinese is in fact just an excuse for "i'm right because that's how i feel". One is hard pressed to actually find a local and engage in conversation about something two sides truly disagree on. I'm not saying other countries are better at this but just remember, when you see this excuse being brought up you might want to ask yourself if the opposite side is truly respecting your opinion as well and not just outright trying to humiliate you to bolster their own ego.