China — news channels live

The essential fact to hold while reading this section is that none of the channels below can be watched in China. YouTube is blocked inside the People's Republic. The Chinese channels listed here therefore address an audience entirely outside the country, and that shapes what they are for.

Media in China are under state and party control; there is no independent broadcasting, and news production operates within a central propaganda administration. The country's international broadcasting is a separate and deliberate state policy: organisations such as CGTN, China Daily and Xinhua are resourced heavily to strengthen China's account of events before world opinion, and publish in many languages. Watching these channels means seeing at first hand how the Chinese state narrates an event — which is not the same as receiving independent news, but is genuine information for a reader following international politics.

The list also includes an outlet opposed to the Chinese state. That is deliberate: seeing how the same event is told on a state channel and on an opposition channel, side by side, says more than either source alone. Readers should watch knowing that both carry a position.

Hong Kong is listed separately; broadcasting there has a different history from the mainland.