Don't Adjust Your TV in China

The Chinese Communist government controls the horizontal and the vertical: (Via Drudge)

FLASH: Heckler disrupts Chinese President Hu's speech on south lawn at White House: 'President Bush, stop him from killing'... 'Stop persecuting the Falun Gong,' she yelled... She also shouted in Chinese, 'President Hu, your days are numbered'... woman is taken away by uniformed secret service officers... right after Bush urged Hu to allow Chinese to 'speak freely'...

On China TV: As Hu Jintao was speaking, as yells of protesters became audible, the screen went black. Feed then came back and once again went black when woman was once again audible. During CNN International's post-speech commentary, at mention of south lawn heckler, screen went black again... feed returned when topic was no longer being discussed...

Is the Chinese government doing anything other than trying to hide the fact that its leaders can't take any dissent. This isn't like when MLB breaks away from games to avoid showing the numbnuts who run out on the field and cause mayhem or streak or are otherwise showboating to get attention. It only further reinforces the fact that the Chinese don't get the concept of free speech.

Oh, and so much for spending months trying to choreograph a White House appearance down to the number of soldiers presenting salutes and whether Hu would get a state dinner (he didn't).

Nancy Pelosi says that there's nothing to celebrate in Hu's visit to the US. China's record on human rights is abysmal and their support for rogue nations is atrocious - Sudan, Iran, North Korea to name just three.

She's got a point, although trade with China drives a large portion of the California economy and making sure that relations between China and the US are okay is a smart thing to do. The problem is that every time Bush takes any action, Pelosi automatically finds fault without offering even the modicum of alternative - just to say she's doing something different. This meeting has been a long time coming, and Bush actually wanted to play down the pomp and circumstance of the meeting, hosting Hu at the Crawford ranch instead of the White House. That didn't happen, and it's unfortunate. Hopefully, some positive steps will be taken on North Korea and the Iran situation - to get China to recognize the severity of the threat posed by those countries nuclear programs. I have a feeling that energy issues will be at or near the top of the agenda since that is driving China's need to be involved in Sudan and Iran.

UPDATE:
Anonymous emailer incredulously notes that Hu's heckler is being charged with disorderly conduct and intimidating foreign official. She's still in custody. They have to make a show of it because of the geopolitics involved. And she'll probably have those charges dismissed as soon as Hu and the Chinese delegation are on a plane back to China.

UPDATE:
The protestor's name is Wenyi Wang. She's a member of Falun Gong and also an official journalist with press credentials and she was able to have her say for two minutes. President Bush made the following comments to Hu:

Bush later addressed the matter when he met with Hu in the Oval Office. "He just said this was unfortunate and I'm sorry it happened," said Dennis Wilder, acting senior director for Asian affairs on the National Security Council staff.

Wilder said Hu was gracious in accepting Bush's apology.

And so much for all that planning - the Chinese Communist national anthem was announced as that of the Republic of China, which is the official name for Taiwan.

And the Chinese censored all references to the entire Wenyi Wang incident. Nothing was allowed to come in, including news reports of the incident. Falun Gong is a religious movement that is banned in China. Wikipedia has an entry on the Falun Gong movement and the Chinese government crackdown. It apparently stems from an April 1999 mass protest - the largest since Tienneman Square protests in 1989. Since then, followers have been persecuted and prosecuted, with the government claiming that the movement was a cult and spreading misinformation that could adversely affect the health of followers.

UPDATE:
Others blogging Wang's heckling and subsequent media coverage: Michelle Malkin who has the video of the incident (2 minutes), Outside the Beltway, Newsbusters, Riehl World View, Pajamas Media, Amboy Times, Peaktalk, Gateway Pundit, and Blogs for Bush.

UPDATE:
Don Surber has a couple of zingers on this, starting with his title. Then Screw Hu. I think that's priceless. Also blogging: Pundit Guy, Wizbang, Expose the Left (who also has audio and video of the encounter), and Peking Duck.