Payback of Olympic Proportions

By Ling Woo Liu | December 31, 2007 | +

On Friday, China Central Television’s sports channel, CCTV-5, held a ceremony to launch its new name: The Olympic Channel. But the revelry ended when Beijing TV host Hu Ziwei, the distraught wife of top sports anchor and sports department head Zhang Bin, walked up to the podium, grabbed the microphone, and accused her husband of having an affair–behavior, she said, that would bring shame to China and to the Beijing Olympics:

Today is a special day for The Olympic Channel, and a special day for Mr. Zhang Bin, and for me too. Because just two hours ago, I found out that besides me, Mr. Zhang Bin has been maintaining an improper relationship with another woman … Next year is an Olympic year, and all eyes will be watching China. But as a French diplomat once pointed out, if Chinese people don’t have any humane values to present to the world … then what does all the fuss mean?

Several men, including Zhang, tried to restrain Hu, who continued her tirade for a full three minutes before being escorted off the stage. Zhang then made a quick apology. The fallout for both Hu and Zhang is still unclear, though the South China Morning Post reported that Zhang did not host his regular Olympic program on Saturday night.

The clip, captured by an audience member’s cell phone, was removed from Sina.com, but has been uploaded to Tudou and Youtube for your viewing pleasure.

Related Topics: China

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