the debate was, by the read of SCMP, rather civilised ...
presumably because one or the other knew that if mouthing off based on the usual claptrap would get bloodied.
scmp.com
Watch Fox’s Trish Regan and CGTN’s Liu Xin trade blows in TV debate
Battle of the anchors ends with polite and restrained on-air discussion Unprecedented American audience for Beijing’s stance on trade war and economy
Nectar Gan
Fox is US President Donald Trump’s favourite network, while CCTV is a de facto mouthpiece for Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Fox’s Trish Regan opened the 15 minute encounter with the show’s only real argument – over whether Liu was speaking for herself or the Chinese Communist Party – which led to the two talking over each other for the most intense moments of the interview.
“Trish, I have to get it straight. I am not a member of the Communist Party of China. This is on the record, so please don’t assume that I’m a member, and I don’t speak for the Communist Party of China and I’m here today, only speaking for myself as Liu Xin, a journalist working for CGTN,” Liu said, after being introduced by Regan as part of the CCP.
Another contentious moment occurred when the conversation turned to intellectual property, with Regan telling Liu there was “evidence there that China has stolen enormous amounts of intellectual property, hundreds of billions of dollars worth”.
In response, Liu conceded there were IP infringements in China committed by “individuals” and “companies”.
“There are copyright issues, or there is piracy and even the theft of commercial secrets. I think that is something that has to be dealt with,” Liu said.
But she stressed that it was “a common practice probably in every part of the world”, including the US.
“You [can’t] say, simply because these cases are happening, that America is stealing or China is stealing, all the Chinese people are stealing. I think this kind of blanket statement is really not helpful. Really not helpful,” she said.
On tariffs, both agreed it would be a “wonderful idea” to just “get rid of the tariffs”, but Liu said the rules for tariffs should be changed by mutual consensus that went beyond China and the US.
Fox anchor Trish Regan ahead of the debate with her Chinese counterpart CGTN's Liu Xin.
The remainder of the “debate” was an arguably bland interview which also touched on trade and the economy, Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, and China’s status as a developing economy.
In response to Regan’s last question on China’s “state capitalism”, Liu jumped on the Communist Party line that it should instead be called a “socialist economy with Chinese characteristics” – a tongue-twisting, and likely unheard of, phrase for most of the Fox Business audience.
“Everybody thinks that China's economy is state-owned. Everything is state-controlled. Everything is state, state, state. But let me tell you, this is not the true picture. If you look at the statistics, for instance, 80 per cent of Chinese employees were employed by private enterprises. And 80 per cent of Chinese exports were produced by private companies,” Liu said.
The largely polite and restrained exchange was in stark contrast to the duo’s sparrings on-air and on Twitter in the lead-up to the debate, with little counterargument against each other’s points.
Chinese anchor Liu Xin on CGTN in the pre-debate war of words with Fox’s Trish Regan.
The conversation – which Regan described as “interesting” – ended with repeated thanks expressed by both sides, and an invitation from Liu for Regan to come to China.
The anticipated clash between the two anchors – each a keen defender of her own administration’s stance – was the latest, unofficial, round in the nearly year-long trade war between the world’s two largest economies, which escalated when attempts to strike a deal fell through unexpectedly earlier this month.
There were positive signs of a breakthrough when the Trump administration abruptly accused China of reneging on commitments made in a draft agreement and raised tariffs on US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods. Beijing rejected the charge and slapped retaliatory tariffs on US$60 billion of US goods.
But the two powers have also been engaged in an increasingly acrimonious stand-off which has drawn in almost every aspect of the bilateral relationship, from technology and defence, to geopolitics and ideology, as well as trade.
Wednesday’s television debate was the culmination of a brewing on-air feud which started two weeks ago, when Regan argued on her show, Trish Regan Primetime, that US tariffs on Chinese goods were a necessary response to China’s “theft” of an annual US$600 billion in American intellectual property.
In a strong defence of Beijing, Liu dismissed Regan’s comments as “all emotion and accusation supported with little substance” in her show, The Point with Liu Xin.
The tussle spread to Twitter, where Regan invited Liu to a televised debate on trade – a challenge which was readily accepted.
Although Twitter is blocked by China’s notorious Great Firewall of internet censorship, news of the unprecedented debate – described by CGTN as “the first in history” – spread like wildfire on Chinese social media, which was immediately inundated with feverish support for Liu.
In the eyes of China’s increasingly nationalistic internet users, Liu has emerged as an intrepid national heroine defending her homeland against an increasingly hostile West.
Even China’s foreign ministry used its daily press briefing earlier this week to urge the public to watch the debate, although it was not streamed live on CGTN, which said it did not have the rights.
“While CGTN originally wanted to broadcast [the debate] live, despite going through Fox Business Network’s official channels, we were unable to secure the rights. CGTN cannot broadcast the show live without authorisation from the other party,” it said on social media.
But many enthusiastic Chinese internet users appeared to have found a way to follow the debate, with comments on the debate flooding Weibo – China’s Twitter-like microblogging platform – on Thursday morning, Beijing time.
Liu, 44, who speaks flawless British English, is no stranger to debate. At 20, as an English language and literature undergraduate at a prestigious university in eastern China, she won top prize at an international speech competition in London, with a powerful speech advocating for women’s rights.
After graduating in 1997, Liu joined state broadcaster CCTV’s English language channel, before working as its Geneva correspondent for six years – becoming a proficient French speaker along the way. She returned to Beijing in 2017 and joined the newly-launched CGTN, which was created as part of Beijing’s expanding overseas propaganda push.
Like other state media programmes, Liu’s current affairs show The Point is an advocate for Beijing’s policies on everything from the environment and foreign aid to defence.
Regan, 46, is a history graduate from Columbia University, a former Goldman Sachs analyst and the 1993 Miss New Hampshire beauty queen. She started her broadcast career at CBS MarketWatch in 2001, then joined CNBC and Bloomberg Television before joining Fox. |
