According to what I’ve read (NOT confirmable by my own personal experiences) being laughed at in public by Asians is equivalent to having things thrown at you by westerners. They consider public mockery far more insulting than we do (not that we enjoy it, but anyway...). The books and articles I read which make this claim are mostly from the 1970s and 1980s, so perhaps that’s changed with “globalization”...maybe some FReepers living in Asian countries can confirm/deny...But if this is true, this incident is far more serious than the article’s writer is aware (or letting on).
So basically it’s the equivalent of having a shoe thrown at him.