During Wednesday night’s vice presidential debate, China cut off its feed from CNN when Vice President Mike Pence began to criticize the nation for its response to the coronavirus.
“China is to blame,” Pence said before the debate suddenly disappeared from view.
“No signal — please stand by,” read the message on screens across the nation.
Once the debate moved to another topic, the broadcast resumed.
Nathan VanderKlippe, the Globe and Mail’s Beijing correspondent, tweeted a video of his debate-less screen.
What it looks like when China censors a vice-presidential debate after a question about China is asked – and then lifts the blackout when conversation appears set to move on. pic.twitter.com/JgV5yEq7JU
— Nathan VanderKlippe (@nvanderklippe) October 8, 2020
“What it looks like when China censors a vice-presidential debate after a question about China is asked — and then lifts the blackout when conversation appears set to move on,” he said.
“China and the World Health Organization did not play straight with the American people,” the vice president remarked during the debate. “They did not let our personnel into China to get information on the coronavirus until the middle of February.”
CNN is not available everywhere in China. The channel can only be viewed in certain locations like international hotels or Chinese homes where foreigners live. Cutting off the feed of those criticizing China on television is something the nation does on a regular basis.
The Washington Examiner reached out to CNN for comment on the matter but did not immediately receive a response.
