China to CNN's Cafferty: Hit the Road, Jack
It's been two weeks since CNN's Jack Cafferty made his infamous "goons and thugs" remarks, but China's anger with CNN hasn't seemed to die down. Over the weekend about 200 Chinese protesters met outside CNN's New York bureau, but those numbered paled in comparison to the 1,500 pro-China protesters outside CNN's Los Angeles bureau.
CNN has stood behind Cafferty, and on April 14, he offered the following clarification: "Last week, during a discussion of the controversy surrounding China's hosting of the Olympic Games, I said that the Chinese are basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they have been for the last 50 years. I was referring to the Chinese government, and not to Chinese people or to Chinese-Americans."
If the number of protesters and anti-cnn fury is any indication, these efforts haven't been enough.
A group of 14 Chinese lawyers are suing CNN because of Cafferty's comments, though the Beijing court hasn't yet accepted the case. One of the lawyers told a Hong Kong paper, Cafferty's statement "seriously violated and abused the reputation and dignity of the plaintiffs as Chinese people, and caused serious spiritual and psychological injury to the plaintiffs". They're asking for about $14 US dollars in damages.
Other prominent Chinese are also expressing their frustrations. In an open letter to Cafferty, Xu Haoran, a popular Chinese news anchor blasts Cafferty's journalistic standards.
He writes, "It saddens me that the media of the USA - a nation which champions free speech – should champion your abuse of that right in order to spit out your vicious remarks. . . . CNN's recent conduct is an absolute violation of those very news principles and ethics to which the Western news media so often lays claim."
Xu continues to defend his country, and to criticize most Americans' shallow knowledge of China. I agree that for the most part with his statement that, "Chinese know a good deal more about the United States and other nations of the world than you know about us in China." Most Chinese have extensive knowledge of U.S. politics, movies,and singers, but how many Americans can name China's president?
On the other hand, it seems that much of Xu's frustration is based on a misunderstanding of Cafferty's remarks.
He asks Cafferty, "Have you ever described the American people as a "bunch of goons and thugs"? What kind of a reaction might that provoke among your countrymen?"
I don't think that Americans would be that offended if Cafferty, or any other anchor, referred to Americans as "a bunch of goons and thugs." I'm sure some people would take offense, but we've definitely been called worse by many media outlets and journalists worldwide.
Conversely, Cafferty's "clarification" doesn't really translate well into the Chinese cultural context, since the Chinese government isn't a distinct entity from the rest of society in the same way it is in the U.S.
If we Americans don't like our elected officials, we just vote them out of office and get new leadership. That's just not an option in China.
One reader, Mr. Huang Yibo, brought up an interesting point in a recent email response to my blog on "The China Gap," where I said that recent press about China has "expanded the chasm" between China and the U.S.
He writes, "As a Chinese American, grown up in China, I'd like to point out that western media involuntarily "expanded the chasm".
Most of the reports mixed up the facts that human right activists protest Chinese communist regime, NOT Chinese people. They are angry at the regime hijacked the Olympic games and turned it into a showcase of its own. Such mix-up in turn are used by the regime to stir up nationalism. Unfortunately, a lot of Chinese could not see clearly."
Huang's words get to the heart of this conflict and severe misunderstandings. If Cafferty had initially just said "Chinese government" or something similar that could not be accidentally mistaken for everyone with any ties to China whatsoever, it would have softened the blow of his remarks.
The vast majority of Chinese in the world haven't even seen these comments, since CNN just doesn't compete with CCTV in terms of viewership in China. The primary knowledge of CNN comes filtered through the Chinese blogosphere or media, and right now they're not too happy with the network.
To say that everything could be resolved with better understanding and more careful word choices would be a gross oversimplification. Some of the strong cultural and political differences between the U.S. and China that aren't going to melt away overnight. Most people just hear what they want to hear.
On the other hand, more responsible reporting and commentary could definitely go a long way.