Fresh protests broke out across China yesterday, with thousands of demonstrators targeting US broadcaster CNN and French chain store Carrefour in disputes over Tibetan unrest and the Beijing Olympics.
The latest protests came after rallies on Saturday at branches of Carrefour, which has been subject to boycotts by Chinese consumers over its alleged support of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama — a claim it denies.
Protesters also targeted the CNN TV network over its commentator Jack Cafferty, who incensed Beijing authorities last week when he called the Chinese leadership “goons and thugs” and slammed China for exporting unsafe products.
PHOTO: EPA
“This was a patriotic movement, people want CNN and Carrefour to apologize,” Wang Zheng, a protester at a Carrefour store in Xian, said by telephone.
“We oppose Tibetan and Taiwan independence and we also oppose the politicization of the Olympic Games,” Wang said.
In yesterday’s protests, demonstrators chanted slogans and held banners that read “Oppose Tibet independence,” “Oppose CNN’s anti-China statements” and “Boycott Carrefour,” he said.
According to the Xinhua news agency, more than 1,000 people assembled in front of a Carrefour in Xian, while demonstrations also occurred at stores in Harbin and Jinan.
Many Chinese protesters felt Cafferty’s remarks on CNN were directed at ordinary Chinese, something that they said was inexcusable, Wang said.
Meanwhile, Internet chatrooms have been awash with accusations that Carrefour has supported the exiled Tibetan government.
Yesterday’s protests came despite a huge police presence after weeks of state-backed anti-Western rhetoric over the torch relay demonstrations and the Western media coverage of Tibet appeared to whip up public outrage.
At one point, 53 police cars were seen on the rooftop parking lot of a Carrefour store in Qingdao, a photographer said.
After protests erupted in the cities of Beijing, Qingdao, Wuhan, Hefei, Kunming and Xian on Saturday, the state press urged calm yesterday.
Saturday’s protests led to Carrefour store closures in at least Qingdao, Wuhan and Hefei but yesterday those stores and stores in Xian, Harbin and Jinan were all operating normally, Xinhua said.
“The more the Dalai Lama clique tries to disrupt the Olympic torch relay and some Western politicians and media take advantage to launch attacks and condemn China, the more we need to unify with the people of the world to hold a successful Olympic Games,” Xinhua said.
State television yesterday also reported large-scale pro-China protests that occurred around the world a day earlier in Los Angeles, Paris, Britain and Berlin.
Chinese-Americans rallied outside CNN’s Hollywood office to demand the firing of commentator Jack Cafferty for calling China’s goods “junk” and its leaders a “bunch of goons and thugs.”
“We understand free speech,” Lake Wang, 39, told the Los Angeles Times. “But what if Cafferty said this about other racial groups? I think he would be fired. I think he’s jealous of China.”
A crowd estimated by police at 2,000 to 5,000 gathered, chanting and holding signs that read “Fire Cafferty” and “CNN: Chinese Negative News.”
The crowd was peaceful and no arrests were made, police said.
Another two dozen people holding Chinese flags also demonstrated outside CNN’s corporate headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.
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