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Wednesday, April 16, 2008
China raises pressure on CNN over “vicious remarks”
Comments by CNN commentator Jack Cafferty that China’s leaders were a “bunch of goons and thugs” and its exports to the United States were “junk with the lead paint on them” has touched off angry rebuttals from Chinese officials and citizens.
On Tuesday, Jiang Yu, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, called Cafferty’s statements - made last week on the political news program “The Situation Room” - “vicious remarks” and called on Cafferty and CNN to “apologize to the whole Chinese people.”
The China Daily, a mouthpiece newspaper of China’s government, ran a front-page story on Wednesday that among other things called Cafferty’s statements “racist and vitriolic”.
CNN issued a statement in response to Jiang Yu saying that the Cafferty’s comments represented his “strongly held opinion of the Chinese government, not the Chinese people” and that he had clarified that point on Monday.
The network added 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 interpreted the comments in this way.”
Beijing’s denunciation of Cafferty’s statements echoed earlier criticisms of CNN and other western media organizations for what Chinese officials have called biased reporting of violent protests in Tibet last month.
A story in the China Daily last month said that “pictures from some media websites, including CNN and BBC, with untrue reports about the riots (in Tibet) have been posted to chatrooms, drawing criticism.”
Beijing has maintained that protests and violent riots in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, was carried out by a small group of people supported by the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile. The Dalai Lama has denied any connection to the protests and has called for China to increase freedoms for Tibetans, who have lived under direct Chinese rule since the 1950s.
Beijing has banned foreign journalists from reporting freely in Tibetan areas, making it difficult for journalists to determine what happened during the recent riots and subsequent crackdown.
Some experts argue that Beijing is intentionally stoking nationalistic feelings among Chinese citizens ahead of the Olympics - when activists are likely to protest China’s human rights record, media restrictions and activities in Tibet, among other issues - to deflect domestic criticism of the government.
It was unclear on Wednesday whether Beijing would accept CNN’s statement and, if they did not, what actions they might take against the station. Officials at China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not reply to questions faxed to them.
But Chinese citizens posting on the Internet called on Beijing to push the issue.
“We cannot accept CNN’s apology because it is insincere,” one post on a popular Web site read on Wednesday afternoon.
It is not clear how many Chinese were upset by Cafferty’s remarks. But many Chinese were angered by images of people in Paris, London and San Francisco protesting the Olympic torch relay.
Some experts believe that some Chinese will react negatively toward any group or company considered critical of China’s government ahead of the Games.
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Biggest threat … China or America?
Good news Americans. Europeans no longer view you as the biggest threat to global security. According to a new poll, China has now supplanted the United States in the top spot.
China may have been hoping to garner a positive image in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics, but the issue of Tibet has destroyed that effort.
An opinion poll commissioned by the Financial Times has found that 35 percent of respondents in the five largest European Union countries see China as a bigger threat to world stability than any other country. Last year that figure was 19 percent and in 2006 it was only 12 percent. In contrast, the United States has slipped into second place with 29 percent of respondents viewing it as the biggest threat, down from 32 percent in 2007. The poll was carried out in Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and Britain.
A report on the poll appeared in today’s Der Spiegel newspaper.
