Fox face-off just perfect for China presenter
- Expected battle between news anchors Trish Regan and Liu Xin turned out to be a civil affair with the latter presenting a very different view of her homeland to American viewers
Millions of Chinese and Americans were expecting a slugfest between two of the world’s most watched TV news anchors over the trade war between their countries.
Certainly, the fireworks before and mutual on-air insults between the two photogenic news hosts, Trish Regan of Fox Business Network and Liu Xin of China Global Television Network, showed promise.
The two women raised many of the key issues concerning the trade war but barely had time to engage in any significant discussion.
They raised the points about China’s alleged intellectual property theft, the trade imbalance, the Huawei ban and China’s status as a developing economy.
But the only contentious moment was at the beginning, when Regan said she wanted to hear Liu’s views as those of the Communist Party on the trade war, while Liu denied that she was ever a party member.
I don’t know whether Regan lacked debate skills or was just taking it easy on Liu. If the Chinese anchor was only speaking for herself, as she had insisted she was, then why should anyone care about her views?
Whether she is a party member, CGTN is the international arm of the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV and would hardly present views contrary to the party line. Of course, Liu could have pointed out that the Fox News network, whose motto is “fair and balanced”, is anything but that.
Since Donald Trump became US president, it has served as the propaganda network for the White House, the go-to news channel for top officials to broadcast their views.
Journalists like to say every story has two sides. Actually, many stories have more than that. But both CCTV and Fox prefer to present only their own side.
So, kudos to Regan for breaking with her network’s tradition and allowing a state-owned TV anchor to present China’s side of the story.
The encounter was clearly a plus for the Chinese side. Just by showing up, being open and speaking perfect English, Liu has already presented a very different China than the one millions of Americans are used to picturing in their minds.
