The only thing I can think of is that originally the Pandaren were going to be Japanese-themed and the Chinese government freaked out at them until they changed them to be Chinese-themed, and interestingly, one of the threads I saw was complaining that this expansion was designed to appeal to the Chinese. Certainly, this one might not require two years to release like Wrath.

(None of this is a defense, and 'asians' have been in the game before: aloof, foreign, beautiful fetish bait, we name thee elf.)