China calls for ‘sincere apology from CNN

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China lodged a formal complaint against U.S. television network CNN and said it should make a sincere apology for what it called a vicious attack by one of its commentators who labeled Chinese as “goons” and its products “junk”.

CNN responded to China’s initial criticism by saying there had been no intent to cause offence and that it “would apologize to anyone who has interpreted the comments in this way”. It said commentator Jack Cafferty was offering a “strongly held” opinion of the Chinese government, not the people.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said on Thursday that was not enough.

“Their statement not only did not make a sincere apology, but also took aim at the Chinese government, attempting to sow discord in the relationship between the Chinese people and the Chinese government,” Jiang said.

Cafferty had said the United States imported Chinese-made “junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food”, adding: “They’re basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they’ve been for the last 50 years.”China’s Foreign Ministry lodged a formal complaint against the network late on Wednesday.

“Those in the field of journalism should abide by their morals. They don’t have the privilege to rail against or slander other people or other governments,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in a statement.

The anger at CNN is the latest in a wave of criticism in China of Western news organizations.The government and a chorus of bloggers accuse Western media groups of running distorted and biased reports of the recent unrest in Tibet.