With the US-China trade talks on hold, thousands of Chinese viewers, media and even economists tuned in to watch CGTN host Liu Xin take on Fox Business Network presenter Trish Regan in the rare debate yesterday. China’s state media drummed up interest in the showdown with articles and social media posts, with China’s foreign ministry chipping in to encourage viewing. The verbal spat erupted when Liu, host of The Point, took offence to a description of China in the Trish Regan Primetime show, but while the anchors went after each other on Twitter, the on-air face-off was more diplomatic. “The so-called war of words was over in 15 minutes, and to sum it up, Liu Xin dished out stuff from our high school politics textbook,” said one man on WeChat. Another scoffed on Weibo at Regan’s trademark “I’m just an American girl” line, saying “big sister, you’re already 48-years-old”.

Source: The Star May 31, 2019 04:30 UTC