Having said [many] inappropriate things in my lifetime, I will certainly not be the first to cast stones about comments without context.
I have also heard some speculation about judo having some origin from Chinese influence. Here is a link that talks briefly about that:
http://judoinfo.com/judohistory.htm
FWIW. as a largr observation, I think it is hard to ignore the general influence of China on Japan and vice versa. The countries have a long... military... relationship and I don't think it is far-fetched to see some rub between them.
I think another aspect to consider is the pseudo-deification of O Sensei and the divergence between that persona and the more personal recollections of individuals which portray him in a different light. I am not so sure it's what O Sensei said that was shocking, but maybe the fact that his public image is
contrasted against what he said...