CNN President Jim Walton has apologized for the anti-China remarks made by CNN commentator Jack Cafferty, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said yesterday.
"On behalf of CNN I'd like to apologize to the Chinese people for that," Walton said in a letter to Zhou Wenzhong, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, Qin said.
"CNN has the highest respect for Chinese people around the world and we have no doubt that there was genuine offense felt by them over the Jack Cafferty commentary," the letter said.
In early April, Cafferty said in a live show that Chinese products were "junk" and the Chinese were "basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they've been for the last 50 years".
As a result of complaints from China, CNN last month issued a statement saying "it was not Mr Cafferty's nor CNN's intent to cause offense to the Chinese people, and CNN apologizes to anyone who has interpreted the comments in this way".
At that time the network said Cafferty was offering his "strongly held" opinion of the Chinese government, not the people.
（英语点津 Helen 编辑）
About the broadcaster:
Brendan joined The China Daily in 2007 as a language polisher in the Language Tips Department, where he writes a regular column for Chinese English Language learners, reads audio news for listeners and anchors the weekly video news in addition to assisting with on location stories. Elsewhere he writes Op’Ed pieces with a China focus that feature in the Daily’s Website opinion section.
He received his B.A. and Post Grad Dip from Curtin University in 1997 and his Masters in Community Development and Management from Charles Darwin University in 2003. He has taught in Japan, England, Australia and most recently China. His articles have featured in the Bangkok Post, The Taipei Times, The Asia News Network and in-flight magazines.
