Communist China Takes Page Out of Capitalist Playbook, Goes to Court
Still smarting from recent criticism of its handling of the standoff with Tibetan separatists, China has upped the ante in its campaign against its western critics by filing a $1.3 billion defamation suit against CNN and its correspondent Jack Cafferty. Reuters reports that a Chinese primary school teacher and a beautician have filed a class action suit seeking damages against CNN on behalf of the Chinese people for remarks Cafferty during the torch run fracas, in which he Chinese imports as “junk with the lead paint on them”, adding that the Chinese are still “basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they’ve been for the last 50 years”.
Turning to the legal system is a new tactic in China’s efforts to shape its image abroad and to control the information that flows into and out of its borders. We asked another newsman, Phillippe Cayla, the CEO of EuroNews, the Europe’s CNN, whether he thought that China would be successful in controlling information and the public perceptions it informs.
