China media blank out Hu protest

BBC News
April 21, 2006

China's official media has not covered any controversial aspect of President Hu Jintao's US visit.

Chinese TV channels broadcasting live coverage of the White House ceremony welcoming President Hu tried to make sure no one saw a Falungong protester shouting at him.

Shanghai's Oriental Satellite TV was showing President Hu beginning to speak, when background shouting was faintly heard.

The video was quickly interrupted as the channel switched back to the studio anchorwoman, who summed up the leaders' speeches in an apparent effort to prevent the noise from being heard.

China's state-run flagship channels CCTV-1 and CCTV-4 chose not to carry the events live, preferring correspondents' summaries. At the time of the heckling incident, CCTV-4 was showing a special programme on President Hu's visit entitled "Voice of Peace From China".

CCTV-1 and CCTV-4, respectively the domestic and international channel of Chinese state television, carried the president's visit as their top items in their Friday news programmes.

They blocked the signal
CNN

But all their bulletins airbrushed out the heckling incident and some even dropped the White House welcoming ceremony altogether, preferring reports on Mr Hu speaking to business leaders in Seattle and visiting Boeing. Major international news networks CNN and BBC, which can be seen in upscale residential compounds and hotels mainly catering to foreigners, were blacked out when footage was about to be shown of Mr Hu being heckled, reports said.

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