CCTV 9 International

As usual Jose and I woke up this morning and turned on the TV to the only English speaking channel we have access to here in Hangzhou--CCTV 9 International. There are several CCTV channels, and they are all government owned and operated, just like all the TV stations here that are China-based. They are covering the 10 year anniversary of the transfer of Hong Kong from England to China with great enthusiasm right now. In fact, that is all they are talking about, and the news is so sticky-sweet that you know right away that it is fully censored by the government. As far as CCTV has reported at this point, nothing bad has ever happened here in China that China couldn't handle properly and overcome (even the stock market crash and SARS were handled easily--these are quickly mentioned and then the commentator moves on). We got to see the BBC in Yellow Mountain, and CNN International in Shanghai, and that was a welcome break. Who would have thought that news from English or American channels would be such a nice comfort!?! At some point it must be assumed that China will have to stop censoring and controlling all of the media and movies here, but that hasn’t happened yet. On a good note, CNN.com doesn’t seem to be blocked anymore, and I can get my news from there. So, if you watch the local or national news tonight, thank your American government for staying out of the news for better or for worse.