Context is everything, LoveUni. You know that.
A non-Chinese person calling a Chinese person "chinaman" is as offensive as calling a black person a nigger.
How does Chinaman remove Chinese people's individuality any more than terms such as the Chinese or Han do?
I probably worded that wrong. I was trying to convey that the term removes their dignity rather than their individuality. Individuality is a foreign concept and best suited to North American cultures.