CNN Pundit's China Comments Draw Ire

(AP)  Chinese-Americans rallied outside CNN's Hollywood office on Saturday to demand the firing of commentator Jack Cafferty for calling China's goods "junk" and its leaders a "bunch of goons and thugs."

"We understand free speech," Lake Wang, 39, told the Los Angeles Times. "But what if Cafferty said this about other racial groups? I think he would be fired. I think he's jealous of China."

A crowd estimated by police at 2,000 to 5,000 gathered, chanting and holding signs that read "Fire Cafferty" and "CNN: Chinese Negative News." The crowd was peaceful, and no arrests were made, police Sgt. David Torres said.

Another two dozen people holding Chinese flags also demonstrated outside CNN's corporate headquarters in Atlanta.

Cafferty made the comments during an appearance on "The Situation Room" that aired April 9.

Speaking about the U.S. trade deficit with China, Cafferty said: "We continue to import their junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food and export, you know, jobs to places where you can pay workers a dollar a month to turn out the stuff that we're buying from Wal-Mart."

"So I think our relationship with China has certainly changed," he continued. "I think they're basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they've been for the last 50 years."

A call Saturday seeking comment from CNN representatives was not immediately returned, but both Cafferty and a network statement earlier in the week stressed that the remarks were aimed at the Chinese government, not its people. CNN said it apologized to anyone who thought otherwise.

China on Thursday snubbed CNN's apology. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said the CNN statement lacked sincerity and instead "turned its attack on the Chinese government to try to sow division between the Chinese government and the people."

China has been under scrutiny as it prepares to host the Olympics in August. Criticism of its human rights record and unrest in Tibet have received widespread coverage, leading Chinese leaders to accuse Western media of smearing the country.

A wave of verbal assaults on foreign media has raised concerns about media controls at the Olympics. CNN has been singled out by the Chinese government, and activists have phoned and e-mailed death threats to Western reporters.

[stinkymouth]

Another thing Chinese is miserable is that even we talk about their rising strength, the Chinese are historically weak--especially without Mao Zetung.
The Russians dont give it ***---they would have shot down a US plane deviated into their territory--
and if Mao Zetung was alive, he would oreded to shoot down that US spy plane. When US bombed China Embassy in Belgrade, if Mao Zetung was alive, we might have a nuclaer war by now.
Today''s China government is weak, no guts. They only think about making money. Money Slaves.
The Chinese need to learn from Venezuela president Hugo Chavez to deal with Americans.
Chavez is the man who would Americans. Mao Zetung said The USA is a paper tiger and Chavez learned that fast, so he knows how to deal with Americans.
Viva Chavez. The Chinese, if they learn, should have kicked CNN China station and its staff out of the country if they learned from Chavez. Chinese cannot fire Jack, cannot make CNN apologize, but they certainly can kick CNN out of the country---thats at least they can do if they want to.
But Mao Zetung is gone and with todays China leaders, they dont have the guts. They dont know how to deal with Americans--or they just dont want to be kicked out of their "junks" coming to America.

[stinkymouth]

I will pitty for many Americans who live in poverty while the rich are ******** cheap Chinese stuff. Without Wal-mart getting stuff from China, American system must raise minimum wage to $25/hour. Can America do it? never ever so if not , shut up Jack Cafferty and go to Wal mart buy a pair of towels for children to go the beach.

[stinkymouth]

The stupidest people are Americans themselves. if Chinese stuff are "junks", why let them in? If Chinese are goons and thugs, why we let them in?
Other people are better? Koreans, Viets, Armenias?
If a Chinese spit on the street, its because he is a ******** *****. if a white man spit, be it Irish or French, nothing is wrong--it just happened.
Americans and its system will never be back on track when it comes to manufacturing daily necessity goods--period--never ever becuase its stupid system. Americans will never be able make shoes and T-shirts and fake Xmas trees again except in prison. Hahaha!!!

[stinkymouth]

Flangesequel is just clearly a racist--period.
Too many Americans are ignorant---they dont have a decent education---especially those low class and poor class have no decent education---they are just a bunch of low-lifes---white trash, red necks, idiots or "thugs and goons" themselves.

[keithle1]

American consumers want cheap stuff. They love Wal-Mart. No one could afford to buy it if it was made in USA by American-born workers. Retail is price, price, price. So are supermarkets. Who is going to pick fruit & vegetables in USA if Mexicans & people from Central America don''t do it? Whites & Blacks?

China doesn''t have the talking-heads-arguing-about-current-affairs programs that we do such as The McLaughlin Group, Hardball & the Beltway Boys. All they have is the news reader giving the people the party line. The world according to the Chinese Communist Party. There is no room for anyone''s opinion or editorial comment if it''s critical of th powers-that-be. Chinese aren''t allowed to surf the web like we are.

We''ll see how polite & well-mannered the government & the Chinese police are if there are protests at the Olympics & they get out of hand.

[joyjoy18-2009]

What a stupid comment from FlangeSqueal!
Even the kids from the elementory know that the Olympic Games belong to the people from all over the world, not the country who hosts it. the rest part of your comment only shows how shallow and hateful you are, you really need to worry about your mental health if making such comment was not because of lack of education.

[kansas1946]

(AP) Chinese-Americans rallied outside CNN''s Hollywood office on Saturday to demand the firing of commentator Jack Cafferty for calling China''s goods "junk" and its leaders a "bunch of goons and thugs."

"We understand free speech," Lake Wang, 39, told the Los Angeles Times. "But what if Cafferty said this about other racial groups? I think he would be fired. I think he''s jealous of China."
**************************************
Are these people Chinese or American. They need to make a choice. Nothing Cafferty said was untrue. If these folks think it is so grand in China, maybe they need to think about immigrating. No one will stop them. The Chinese have been oppresive to their people, have allowed sub-standard products to enter the consumer market, many of which have caused illnes and death. It is nuts to live in this country, enjoy the freedoms and economic rewards of our system, and then raise cain when the very oppression the they escaped is critcized.

[killtheliars]

StopRacism,
Actually I always look for goods made in the U.S. and if they are more i pay the difference. I disagree that cutting all trade with china would hurt the U.S. but not China. They are much more dependant on our consumer base then we are theirs. what people don''t seem to realise is that even in tough times the average american has more disposable income then almost anyone else. What I am saying is keep it here, and what you cannot keep in the U.S. keep in this hemisphere. If we could learn to get along with countries like Venezuala and keep good relations with Brazil and Canada, and stop playing games with Mexico and say you want food aid medical aid financial aid forgivness of debt we want cheap oil, we could become independant of middle eastern oil, African oil ect.
We need to cut off or at least wean ourselves totally off of China. If we can do this in 10 years we would be back to the ultimate economic power and China would be backsliding. If you think Mexico, Russia, Austrailia and Canada are more lucrative markets then the U.S. you are nuts. Also once we get our manufacturing back up and running we would take the business from Austrailia and Canada and maybe even Russia.When I hear people say it would hurt us more i actually start to believe there is a global conspiracy to re-distribute wealth form the U.S. and other wealthy nations to other parts of the world.

[stopracism]

P.S. killtheliars, would you be prepared to pay 25% to 50% more for every good you normally purchase that was either made or imported from China with your current budget and just buy US or non-Chinese made?

[stopracism]

So, what''s the difference between Cafferty''s remarks and Don Imus'' remarks (to the women''s college basketball team that happened to be all African-American)? None.

Look at all the stuff around you that are made in China...electronics, appliances, furnishings, all made in China and sold by big name brands such as Sony, Mitsubishi, etc. And guess what, nothing''s wrong with them. It''s all about quality control. If Sony can do a good job, then companies like Mattel and the U.S. government should be equally accountable for the so-called "junk" that made it to our stores. Had Mattel and others been more diligent rather than to focus on cost cutting, then we would have never been in this situation.

And just because the U.S. cuts off trade with China won''t do any good. The U.S. hold higher standards than other countries, and these other countries won''t stop trade with China as long as their standards are met. Stopping trade could very well hurt our economy, especially the goods that are being sold to China. Don''t you think other countries like Canada and Australia and Russia would more than be happy to step in and take over trade with China if the US backs out?