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New York Times, National Section, on 10/23/94
CBS Clarifies Chinese Spy Report After Protest
October 23, 1994, New York Times, A36, National Section
After months of protest from Asian-Americans over CBS News
report about Chinese spies in the United States, the network
broadcast an unusual "clarification" on its Friday evening
newscast.
"It was not our intention," said Connie Chung, co-anchor of
the CBS Evening News, "to leave the impression that there were
more than a small number of such individuals among the many tens
of thousands of legitimate Chinese students, visitors, and
immigrants who come to the U.S. every year. If we left an
incorrect impression, we regret it."
The original news report was shown on May 19. In it, Ms.
Connie Chung examined the scope of Chinese intelligence
operations in America.
"Every day, planeloads of Chinese citizens arrive legally in
the United States, ordinary people," Ms. Connie Chung said in the
report. "But to the Chinese government, some of them may be
future spies, who a few year down the road, will be activated to
steal America's military and technological secrets, whether they
want to or not."
The broadcast angered many of the 350,000 recent Chinese
immigrants, scholars and students in America. They said the
report exaggerated the problem and caused them to be regarded
with unwarranted suspicion. A group called the Independent
Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars demanded an apology
on the air and a retraction from CBS.
"CBS News wrongly portrayed Chinese-Americans as untrustworthy
in front of a television audience of over 12 million people,"
said Lin Huang, a member of the federation.
Powerful Asian-American groups such as the Committee of 100,
the Organization of Chinese Americans, and the Asian Pacific
American Bar Association, quickly joined the protest. Only after
four months of requests and a letter from the United States
Commission on Civil Rights did officials of CBS News meet with
the coalition. That was on Tuesday.
In response to the statement broadcast by CBS on Friday, Ginny
Gong, national president the Organization of Chinese Americans,
commended the network but added, "we'll no longer be the silent
minority when negative stereotypes continue to perpetuate the
image of Asian-Americans as forever foreign."
Several attempts to reach CBS News executives about the
statement brought responses that they would not be available
until Monday.
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Mi Mi Sr.'s comment: Not only the President Eric Ober of CBS News
offered a full apology, but also Ms. Connie Chung made her
"clarification" on the air, only came short to utter the
previously drafted word "apologize."
Now, the CBS Incident is put on the everlasting printed record,
the New York Times national section. Whoever wants to make spy
stories on Chinese, will definitely retrieve and read this story
though computer database, and be warned with strong protest if
there is any ill-intention. Also, all the news media will learn a
lesson from this, that we Chinese are never silent again.
In this country, protests are too common that news editors will
not look at them. Corrections are less common, but still they
will not be regarded as news. This time a news is made since a
traditionally silent minority people hold on a protest against a
giant media, and won. It serves a warning for any future ill-
intended defamation.
CBS Incident Committee is seriously evaluating the possibility of
suing the author or anyone who let go this junk book. If we have
enough funds and manpower, we will knock down this guy for good.
That will be another big story.
We need your support.
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