The New York Times' Jim Yardley writes that Chinese officials are demanding CNN apologize for Jack Cafferty's comments last week. In the April 9 broadcast of "The Situation Room," seen below, Cafferty referred to Chinese exports as "junk" and described the nation as "goons and thugs." From the Times:
Jiang Yu, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, categorized the remarks as a slander against all Chinese people, though CNN later said the criticism by the commentator, Jack Cafferty, reflected his personal opinion and was focused solely on the government.
"We are shocked at, and strongly condemn, the vicious remarks" by Mr. Cafferty "against the Chinese people," Ms. Jiang said during a regular news briefing. "We solemnly demand that CNN and Cafferty retract his vicious remarks and apologize to the whole Chinese people."
CNN issued a statement saying that Mr. Cafferty's comments represented his "strongly held" opinion of the Chinese government, not the Chinese people. The network added, "It was not Mr. Cafferty's nor CNN's intent to cause offense to the Chinese people," and said CNN "would apologize to anyone who has interpreted the comments in this way."
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