With CNN Center and Centennial Olympic Park as a backdrop, hundreds of people of Chinese descent protested Saturday in downtown Atlanta over recent comments critical of China by CNN commentator Jack Cafferty.

They called Cafferty's statements part of a trend in western media distortion that threatens to unfairly taint China's image in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics.

Placard-waving protestors lined both sides of Centennial Olympic Drive, with one group chanting "CNN liar" and the other "Cafferty fire." An airplane circling overhead carried a banner reading "Go Olympics! CNN Stop Bashing Chinese!!!"

The demonstrators, most professionals and students from around the Southeast, were reacting to Cafferty's statements during an April 9 episode of "The Situation Room."

The commentator said, "We continue to import their junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food and export .... jobs to places where you can pay workers a dollar a month to turn out the stuff that we're buying from Wal-Mart. So I think our relationship with China has certainly changed. I think they're basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they've been for the last 50 years."

Cafferty later clarified on air that he was referring to the Chinese government, not the Chinese people. And CNN, in a statement, said the network did not intend to offend the Chinese people and it apologizes "to anyone who has interpreted the comments this way."

But the Chinese government demanded a "sincere apology." And last weekend, members of the Chinese-American community demonstrated outside CNN's offices in Hollywood, calling for Cafferty to be fired.

The protest shifted to the network's home town Saturday, with many from Atlanta's Chinese-American community saying they felt betrayed by a dear friend, the network that had always burnished their adopted city's international credentials.

"CNN is one of my favorite channels," said Joe Chou, a 25-year-old MBA student at Georgia State University. "And I love Atlanta. But this has really hurt our Georgia pride. CNN is supposed to be a world leader — not this."

Charges of unbalanced media coverage had been simmering among Chinese around the world as news organizations covered a Tibetan uprising last month and, later, the pro-Tibet demonstrations that dogged the Olympic torch relay in London and Paris.

So Cafferty's comments lit already short fuses, particularly on the blogosphere, where "Shut Up CNN" T-shirts are for sale and sites such as anti-cnn.com feature critiques of western media reports involving China.

Some of the Atlanta protesters said they came less to criticize CNN and more to show support for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The games, they said, shouldn't be politicized.

But the bulk of the placards, some featuring Cafferty's image, carried critiques such as "CNN — Clearly Not Neutral" and "CNN: Chinese Negative Network."

Tim Xia, an Atlanta attorney, said CNN's apology isn't enough for U.S. citizens like him who have counted on the network as a partner in bridging two cultures. "Saying 'sorry if you feel that way?'" Xia said, "They need to say 'We were wrong.' No 'if.'"