CNN apologised to the mainland public one month after its commentator Jack Cafferty made controversial remarks about China, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said yesterday.
Mr Qin said CNN president Jim Walton sent a letter to China's ambassador to the United States, officially apologising to the Chinese people. In the letter, Mr Walton said CNN had the highest respect for Chinese people around the world and the organisation had no doubt that Chinese people were offended by Cafferty's remarks, Mr Qin said.
The spokesman urged CNN and Cafferty to learn a lesson and avoid similar cases in the future. He also hoped CNN could present objective and fair reports on the Sino-US relationship.
On April 9, following CNN's coverage of the March Tibetan riots, Cafferty called Chinese 'goons and thugs' and said Chinese-made products were 'junk'. He later said he had been referring to Chinese leaders.
The comments enraged Chinese around the world. CNN said Cafferty had offered his 'strongly held' opinion of the Chinese government, not the people, and that 'over many years, Jack Cafferty had expressed critical comments of many governments, including the US government and its leaders'. The statement did little to appease Chinese anger.
