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Commentary: CNN owes China an apology for slandering

By Li Hong and Gao Jin'an (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-04-16 01:43

The American Cable News Network (CNN) is making news with China, again. Last time, cnn.com editors chopped a picture with more than 10 stone-throwing Tibetan mobs chasing a Chinese riot police wagon nowhere to see, causing wrath of millions for photo doctoring. This time, an amateur anchor blasted out Chinese people as "goons and thugs" and Chinese-made goods as "junk".

 

Sixty-six-year-old Jack Cafferty, in a TV program called Situation Room that aired on April 9, obviously unhappy with China "holding hundreds of billions of dollars" of U.S. paper deficits, more and more American consumers "buying from (inexpensive) Wal-Mart", and certainly the "changed relationship" with China, moaned: "The Chinese are basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they have been in the past 50 years."

 

Many, assumingly including U.S. citizens, are stunned and shocked with such racist and vicious attack without any cover on a group of people. As a matter of fact, in the past years, Chinese people are getting on good terms with a huge number of earth residents, of different color, different language, from different continents.

 

As the head wind is changing its direction, Cafferty becomes sick.

 

So annoyed by Cafferty's despicable and shameless attack on an American national TV, American Chinese have launched an online petition, requesting an apology from CNN. The petition has got more than 40,000 signatures and the number of signatures is growing by the minute. China's Foreign Ministry, on April 15, also strongly condemned Cafferty's weird remarks, demanding CNN and the anchor himself take back the malicious remarks, and apologize to all Chinese people.

 

It is rare for the world audience to hear such a blatant discrimination against an ethnic group of people with such a derogatory connotation. What Cafferty did was using his privilege as a CNN anchor to insult China and slander all Chinese people. He is pathetic to have wantonly violated professional ethics of journalism and lost his conscience.

 

The United States is known for "melting-pot" culture, and the dangling "American dream" which have inspired people of different colors to emigrate to it. However, the like of Jack Cafferty, sitting before TV screens watched by tens of thousands of audiences in America and elsewhere, and attacking Chinese people, is nothing but showing its rudeness, arrogance, ignorance and hostility towards China.

 

After years of efforts by some Western media to demonize China has failed, the ink of Cafferty have come to the forefront to directly assault China, which reflects the utter frustration and despair of some wicked men and women.

 

The biased reportage on the Lhasa riot that took place on March 14 by CNN and some other western press has backfired. Tens of millions of Chinese, living at home and abroad, the young and Internet savvy especially, have rallied together. They have stood firmly behind the Chinese government and fought back the twisting journalists with one big voice: Stop doing it!

 

Angry with Cafferty's outburst, an increasing number of Chinese people have written on Chinese online chatrooms, demanding the Foreign Ministry deport CNN from China. China Daily website may not agree with the punitive measure, but a prompt and sincere apology from Cafferty and his organization is needed.