In the final week of June, a rare “apology spectacle” unfolded on Fox News, as hosts of several flagship programs took turns appearing on air to publicly apologize for false remarks about China. It was an unusual moment in the network’s history. 

Fox News publicly apologizes. Source: CCTV News 

The controversy began with a large-scale AI data center project in Utah being developed by Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary. The project drew fierce opposition from local environmental groups and residents over concerns about its high energy consumption and environmental impact. Instead of confronting the criticism head-on, the billionaire put on a performance on Fox News, shifting the blame to China by confidently posing a series of provocative questions: “Who would want us to stop building our electrical grid? Who would want to stop us from having compute capacity to develop AI? Which adversary would want that? There’s only one: it’s China.” 

Opposition group hits back at Kevin O’Leary’s absurd comments. Source: CCTV News 

What was even more absurd was that he not only labeled his opponents as “Chinese operators” but also named specific organizations and individuals. The accusations, despite having no factual basis, were amplified and widely circulated on Fox News. The targeted organizations pushed back, saying, “If we were Chinese operators, we would be the worst operators in the world.” Facing public backlash and potential legal risks, O’Leary admitted that he had no evidence, while Fox News subsequently issued an apology. 

But did Fox apologize out of journalistic conscience?  

Don’t be naive. U.S. media outlet Firebrand Media hit the nail on the head: For Fox News, the bottom line was never truth or democracy, but whether the target of its smear could find a lawyer capable of making it pay. In short, Fox News did not apologize because it admitted wrongdoing; it apologized because it was afraid.  

Fox News host Bret Baier complains after his team is fined for illegal parking. Source: Fox News 

Looking back over the years, certain U.S. media outlets, with Fox News as a prominent example, have long been engaged in smearing China and stoking hostility. As early as 2014, then Fox News host Bob Beckel made openly anti-China remarks on air, calling Chinese people the greatest threat to U.S. national security. He was forced to apologize after facing widespread criticism. 

More recently, during U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to China, Fox News anchor Bret Baier took to the streets of Beijing and deliberately stood in a non-motorized vehicle lane to film. Later, he complained that his team had received a ticket for illegal parking for two minutes. He attempted to create a narrative that China’s surveillance is everywhere, only to backfire and draw ridicule online. Netizens questioned him: Why break the law? You do not respect local people and block traffic during rush hour. This is a typical filming tactic—shooting among cars, bicycles, and pedestrians to create an impression of chaos. 

Krishna Prasad Oli, former Nepalese ambassador to China and an ecology expert, engages in exchanges in Xizang. 

These street gimmicks are merely the tip of the iceberg of their “China threat” narrative. On issues concerning Xinjiang and Xizang, the same narrative has been pushed to an even more extreme level. The BBC once published a so-called “investigative report” falsely alleging “forced labor” in Xinjiang’s tomato harvesting, calling on Western countries to stop using tomato ingredients sourced from Xinjiang. In reality, the cultivation and harvesting of Xinjiang tomatoes have largely been mechanized, with more than 90 percent of harvesting done mechanically. From Xinjiang cotton to Xinjiang tomatoes and Xinjiang peppers, media outlets such as The Hill in the U.S. and The Daily Telegraph in the UK have repeatedly promoted the same “forced labor” narrative, without even bothering to change the script. 

Concerning Xizang, some foreign media have attacked the boarding schools established by the Chinese government to promote equal access to education. They have labeled the schools as “forced assimilation”, “compulsory boarding”, and “human rights violations”, while ignoring the historical reality that, in old Xizang, fewer than 2 percent of school-age children attended school, and more than 95 percent of the population was illiterate. 

Ironically, some countries that now claim to champion human rights once forcibly removed indigenous children from their families and sent them to colonial-style residential schools, suppressing their cultures and identities. Such a case of “the pot calling the kettle black” only exposes their true motives in exploiting human rights issues for political purposes. 

Foreign media says Baier’s street gimmick revealed his deep-seated arrogance. Source: The Independent 

However these accusations are repackaged, their essence remains the same: shifting domestic problems onto China. From struggling local businesses and stalled infrastructure projects to setbacks in industrial competition and disputes on university campuses, “Chinese interference” and the “China threat” have become convenient labels for deflecting blame in Western public discourse. Manufacturing decline, technological setbacks, and even difficulties facing business projects are all pinned on China. 

It is as if pressing the “China” button hard enough could make every problem disappear. But this old tactic is losing its power. In recent years, the impact of negative narratives about China in the West has steadily weakened. As global information flows become more open and transparent, a fuller and more nuanced picture of China is emerging worldwide. 

A Pew Research Center poll shows that the share of Americans with a favorable view of China has nearly doubled over the past three years. The findings suggest that more Americans are relying on their own observations to look beyond long-standing perceptions and biases. 

Fox News finally cracked—not because of a sudden awakening of conscience, but because the lies could no longer be maintained. When the light of truth pierces through the “filter bubbles”, who would still care about those outdated prejudices and tired narratives? 

Public discourse, after all, rests on facts. The global arena of public opinion is never a contest of who can shout the loudest or cling to bias. Fox News’ apology drama sends a warning to the world: no matter how often lies are amplified, they will ultimately be defeated by facts. Respect for truth, rationality and objectivity, as well as equality and inclusiveness, should be the defining values of international public discourse. (Text by Jigme)