China doesn’t understand that criticism is part and parcel of the political and media process, though perhaps this CNN commentator went a little far?
China on Tuesday demanded that television news channel CNN apologize after one of its commentators said the Chinese were “goons” and that their products were “junk.”
Jack Cafferty made the comments earlier this month on CNN’s political program, The Situation Room.
“We are shocked at and strongly condemn the evil attack by the CNN anchor on the Chinese people,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news conference.
“Cafferty used the microphone in his hand to slander China and the Chinese people, and seriously violated reporting ethics.”
Cafferty said the United States imported Chinese-made “junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food,” adding: “They’re basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they’ve been for the last 50 years,” according to a copy of his comments carried on YouTube.
China is currently a favourite punching bag in the West, especially the US, not least because the country may soon overtake the world’s only superpower.