China Demands Apology for Commentator’s Remarks on CNN

BEIJING, April 16: The
Chinese government is demanding an apology from the Time Warner-owned CNN
following so-called “vicious remarks” by commentator Jack Cafferty.

Cafferty made the comments
last week while on the Wolf Blitzer-hosted The Situation Room. “We’re in hock to the Chinese up to our eyeballs
because of the war in Iraq, for one thing,” he said. “We are also running
hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of trade deficits with them, as we continue
to import their junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food and
export jobs to places where you can pay workers a dollar a month to turn out
the stuff that we’re buying from Wal-Mart.”

Cafferty continued: “I
think they’re basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they’ve been for the
last 50 years.”

Earlier this week,
Cafferty returned to The Situation Room to clarify that his “goons and thugs” comment was directed at the
Chinese government, not its citizens.

In a press briefing, Jiang
Yu, a spokeperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, lashed out at the commentator,
noting that he “used the microphone in his hands to slander China and the
Chinese people [and] seriously violated professional ethics of journalism and
human conscience. We solemnly demand that CNN and Cafferty retract his vicious
remarks and apologize to the whole Chinese people.”

The international news
network issued a statement yesterday noting: “CNN would like to clarify that it
was not Mr. Cafferty’s, nor CNN’s, intent to cause offense to the Chinese
people, and [CNN] would apologize to anyone who has interpreted the comments in
this way. CNN is a network that reports the news in an objective and balanced
fashion. However, as part of our coverage we also employ commentators who
provide robust opinions that generate debate. On this occasion, Jack was
offering his strongly held opinion of the Chinese government, not the Chinese
people—a point he subsequently clarified on The Situation Room on April 14. It should be noted that over many
years, Jack Cafferty has expressed critical comments on many governments,
including the U.S. government and its leaders.”

—By Mansha Daswani