(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-27 08:43

LOS ANGELES -- A recent demonstration by thousands of Chinese Americans against CNN commentator Jack Cafferty's anti-China remarks marked a milestone for the local Chinese community, the Los Angeles Times said Saturday.

Thousands of people, including students, business people and engineers from Chinese  mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia, rallied in front of CNN's Hollywood headquarters a week ago, calling for Cafferty's firing after he called the Chinese "goons" and "thugs," and a sincere apology from the network.

There is little evidence that the Los Angeles event, and similar pro-China activities recently around the world, were orchestrated by the Chinese government despite the claims of anti- Chinese activists, the newspaper reported.

"If people think we're supported by the government, they really don't know the truth," the report quoted Minxue He, president of UCLA's Chinese Students and Scholars Association, as saying.

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The UCLA group held rallies for the Beijing Olympics on campus. He said his group promoted the Olympics to American students to let them know what's going on in China, and the idea came from association members.

Dramatic changes in last two decades have changed the local Chinese people's view of their home country, and paved the way for public demonstrations such as last Saturday's event, the newspaper said.

Chinese Americans here now enjoy access to China's booming economy, and many consider Chinese society significantly more free than in years past, according to the report.