Although they come from opposite ends of the Chinese political spectrum, for two months this spring Bo Xilai, a Communist Party official who was dismissed from his post, and Chen Guangcheng, a blind, activist lawyer who fled house arrest in his village, shared one important trait: they were the most closely watched Chinese men in the world.
When Mr. Bo fell from power in March and Mr. Chen made an unlikely escape from house arrest the following month - eventually seeking refuge in the American Embassy in Beijing - their stories were documented in minute detail in American newspapers, magazines and Twitter feeds. That is, with one notable exception: on CCTV America‘s weekend news program produced in Washington by China's state broadcaster, neither man's plight made the headlines. As my colleague Andrew Jacobs reports, CCTV Americ a failed to feature either man's story.
Here is a look at what the program did cover as those major events unfolded.
March 15: Bo Xilai Ousted From Communist Party
What happened: The brash Communist Party chief of the Chongqing municipality in China's southwest was removed from his post. It was the most high-profile dismissal of a Chinese official in years, ending his political ambitions and complicating the once-a-decade national leadership transition that will take place in the fall.
Here are the headlines from CCTV America's China-related stories that weekend:
March 18 News Broadcast: Chinese Special Envoy to Syria Returns From Trip to Damascus; China Concerned About Upcoming North Korean Missile Launch; Chinese Surveillance Ships Return From Diaoyu Islands; Important Commercial Relationship Between Brazil and China.
March 19 News Broadcast: More Concern Over Upcoming North Korean Missile Launch; Chinese A uthors Sue Apple; Beijing Subway Overhaul; First Chinese-American Congresswoman.
April 22: Chen Guangcheng Escapes From House Arrest
What happened: The blind rights lawyer scaled the wall of his compound, evaded his guards, and fled with a driver to the American Embassy in Beijing. The result was an intense diplomatic standoff between the United States and China just as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner were preparing to arrive in Beijing for the Strategic and Economic Dialogue.
Here are the China-related headlines on CCTV America the weekend after Mr. Chen's escape became public:
April 29: New China-Russia Trade Contracts; Strategic Economic Dialogue Ready to Start; Terracotta Warriors on Exhibit in New York.
April 30: Ongoing China-Philippines Naval Dispute at the Huangyan Islands.
May 2: Chen Guangcheng Released From U.S. Embassy
What happened: After days of heated diplomatic nego tiations and numerous vacillations by an exhausted Mr. Chen about whether to leave the embassy, the blind dissident agreed to move to a nearby hospital where he reunited with his family and told reporters that he wanted to leave China.
Here is what CCTV America saw as the China-related stories the weekend after Mr. Chen left the embassy:
May 6: Chinese-U.S. Officials Hold Talks at Strategic Economic Dialogue.
May 7: China Consumer Price Index Update; Toyota's Ambitious Plans for China.
A CCTV employee told The Times that the program did record a segment about Mr. Chen that included footage of his stay at the hospital, but no such segment appears in the archived episodes available on CCTV America's Web site.
