Ethnic Chinese in SE U.S. rally in support of Beijing Olympics

WASHINGTON, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Some 600 ethnic Chinese residing or studying in the U.S. state of Georgia and nearby regions took to the streets Saturday to support the forthcoming Beijing Olympics and condemn CNN commentator Jack Cafferty's derogatory remarks on China, organizers said Sunday.

The protestors gathered at CNN center and the Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta, waving the Chinese national flags and holding up banners supporting the Beijing Olympics and condemning CNN's distorted coverage of China.

They sang China's national anthem and chanted slogans such as "CNN liar, Cafferty fire" and "No Politicization of Olympics."

A plane circled overhead, carrying a banner that read: "Go Olympics! CNN Stop Bashing Chinese!!!"

The demonstrators, mostly professionals and students from southeastern United States, were reacting to Cafferty's April 9 remarks, when he called the Chinese "the same goons and thugs they've been for the last 50 years."

Some ethnic Chinese from Florida's Tallahassee city had made a seven-hour journey to join the protests in Atlanta, Wu Peng, a Chinese man working for a financial firm in Atlanta, told Xinhua by telephone.

"We want to let our voices be heard ... that we Chinese people are standing up to oppose anyone who wants to slander China with such racial remarks," he said.