I feel like what the person means is that the Triads (like the Yakuza) are at least a legitimate real world gang who engage in terrible things that are indisputably awful and criminal, and who do operate globally. So it's less racist than making up a group like the Ten Rings or the Hand in Marvel or having a generic group of terrorists or gang members who just happen to be cast to be a specific race who are cartoonishly evil.

At least that's how I took it.