China’s government on Tuesday weighed in on the growing controversy over a comedy sketch on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live that a Beijing spokesman said promoted racism and hatred of Chinese.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters in Beijing during a press conference that a "spontaneous" demonstration by Chinese Americans was held in several cities last week, including Hollywood, "to protest the remarks aired by ABC that are offensive to Chinese."
"We must point out that spreading racial discrimination and hatred goes against the news media's social responsibility," Qin said. "ABC should confront its mistake, respond sincerely to the legitimate demand of Chinese in the United States, and prevent similar incidents from occurring again."
It was the Chinese government’s first response to the incident.
The so-called spontaneous demonstrations appeared highly organized and took place in some 27 cities. Many protested at ABC facilities.
The protesters took issue with a comedy sketch called "Kid’s Roundtable," a bit featuring host Kimmel and three children answering questions. Some demanded that Kimmel be fired.
During the Oct. 16 segment, Kimmel asked the children what should be done to solve U.S. financial problems, including some $1.5 trillion in U.S. debt held by the Chinese. One boy said in an unscripted response: "We should kill all the Chinese."
After Chinese-Americans protested the comedy sketch, ABC issued an apology and promised not to re-air the routine in later rebroadcasts.
The New York Post reported that Kimmel was forced to issue an apology to the protesters that the newspaper said resembled a communist "struggle session" during the Cultural Revolution, when establishment Chinese were attacked and humiliated by zealous Red Guard communists.
Kimmel said he was "very, very sorry" for the skit.