BBC World and CNN International were censored in China multiple times on Thursday.

Signals from the two international news channels were pulled from a satellite TV service available in China when a heckler interrupted Chinese President Hu during a speech at the White House. Subsequent signal blackouts were reported to have occurred during later reports on the matter.

CNN International noted on multiple occasions following the incident that its signal had been blocked. During Your World Today, for example, anchor Hala Gorani explained: "And just to let our viewers know, once again, that the Chinese government blocked CNN International's signal in China when this network was airing live pictures of that heckler that we saw there among the camera people on that stand, and also those protesters outside the gates of the White House."

Later, on the CNN/US afternoon programme The Situation Room, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer added: "In China, TV viewers did not get to see live coverage of her protest. Chinese state television didn't carry the ceremony. But CNN International did and it was airing the programme live in China. The Beijing government, though, blacked out coverage of the protester once that happened and the discussion about it afterward -- they blacked out CNN's coverage after the protests started."