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Xinhua and Caixin Made Different Reports on Trump’s Speech

Two Chinese media, Xinhua and Caixin reported with much different attitudes on Trump’s speech made in Phoenix on August 22. The Chinese Communist Party Propaganda Department heavily controls Xinhua. It is the traditional mouthpiece of the state. Caixin is a relatively new media, commonly believed to have a close connection to Wang Qishan.

Xinhua Report: A Split America – Trump’s Speech at a Gathering Caused Controversy

In his near 80-minute speech, Trump spent about half of his time raging at the media. He defended his position on the violent incident in Charlottesville.  …

When Trump scoffed at the media, the audience booed. His supporters shouted, “CNN sucks!” The TV news reporter while shaking his head and sighing said, “This is the President we elected.”

Later Trump moved to immigration, the border wall and NAFTA. …

About 4,500 people said on Facebook that they participated in the protest event next to Trump’s gathering. Over 3,000 more people said that they participated in the anti-Trump event that a local immigration rights group had organized in downtown Phoenix.

After the gathering, the anti-Trump protesters clashed with the police. Police used tear gas on the protesters and smoke was everywhere. At least three protesters were arrested. No injuries were reported.

Afterwards, some U.S. media commented that Trump’s speech, “increased the split in American society.”

Caixin Report: “Trump Criticized the Media for Quoting Him out of Context and Threatened to Shut down the Government if Congress Does not Fund the Border Wall”

On August 22, Trump countered the external criticism (of his position on the Charlottesville clash) and criticized the media for quoting him out of context.

Trump said, “It’s time to expose the crooked media’s deceptions and to challenge the media for their role in fomenting divisions.” “(A)nd yes, by the way, they are trying to take away our history and our heritage. You see that.”

Trump took out a few (copies of) his statements on Charlottesville’s violence incident and criticized the media for quoting him out of context.

“These are truly dishonest people. It’s not all of them. Not all of them. You have some very good reporters. You have some very fair journalists, but for the most part, honestly, these are really, really dishonest people, and they’re bad people. I really think they don’t like our country.”

While he made those statements, the audience booed at and shouted at the reporter area, “CNN sucks! CNN sucks!” About 19 thousand people participated in the gathering. Many of them waved the banners of “Drain the Swamp,” “Make America Great Again,” and “Women Supporting Trump.”

Trump said that the media ignored his statement on unity. “Just like they don’t want to report that I spoke out forcefully against hatred, bigotry and violence and strongly condemned the neo-Nazis, the White Supremacists, and the KKK.” …

Arizona is one of the states that strongly supported Trump during the Presidential election. A few hundred people gathered to protest Trump outside the rally. Phoenix’s Mayor, Greg Stanton, a Democrat, had asked the White House to cancel the gathering and warned about potential violence. However, in reality, the pro- and anti-Trump people didn’t have a direct confrontation that day.

Sources:
1. Xinhua, August 23, 2017
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2017-08/23/c_1121532170.htm
2. Caixin, August 24, 2017
http://international.caixin.com/2017-08-24/101134637.html
3. Time, August 23, 2017
http://time.com/4912055/donald-trump-phoenix-arizona-transcript/