Another Free Window of Communication to China Shut Down Prior to the Olympics

Another Free Window of Communication to China Shut Down Prior to the Olympics

Latest Evidence Suggests Eutelsat Satellite has Stopped Transmitting NTDTV Broadcasts Due to Political Pressure from Chinese Government

NEW YORK, July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- On June 16, 2008, Eutelsat Communications abruptly discontinued New Tang Dynasty Television's (NTDTV) broadcast to China via its W5 satellite. The explanation provided at the time for this service interruption was "an anomaly to part of its [W5's] power generator subsystem."

In the nearly 4 weeks since, Eutelsat has provided no update or additional explanation to the continued service blackout. In addition, on July 7, Eutelsat formally notified NTDTV that it was discontinuing its service to NTDTV.

On July 10th, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released a new evidence, exposing that the real reason behind NTDTV's broadcast discontinuation was a decision by Eutelsat Chairman and CEO Giuliano Berretta to curry favor with the PRC regime, which has steadfastly sought to shut out all media beyond its censorship control.

According to RSF, a Eutelsat representative in Beijing stated in a recorded conversation:

"It was our company's CEO in France who decided to stop NTDTV's signal. (...)We could have turned off any of the transponders. (...) It was because we got repeated complaints and reminder from the Chinese government. (...) Two years ago, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television kept saying the same thing over and over: 'Stop that TV station before we begin to talk." (See http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=27818 for the original article)

Since the inception of its broadcast on W5 in 2004, NTDTV has become indispensable to a vast number of Chinese viewers. For matters that concern Chinese people's lives, for what actually happened around them and in the outside world, NTDTV has always been among the first to report the events. Its timely coverage on current events were vital to the Chinese people, such as reporting on the SARS epidemic three weeks before Beijing owned up to the problem. It also focused in on government abuses shielded from the Chinese public view, such as the disproportionate number of school children deaths due to the collapse of shoddily constructed school buildings in the Sichuan earthquake, and the truth about the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

With the Beijing Olympics mere weeks away, Chinese people's need for uncensored news has never been greater. Yet at this critical juncture, Mr. Berretta's decision closed the only window of free information to millions of Chinese people. What the PRC regime has not been able to accomplish for years, Mr. Berretta has delivered by the flip of a switch.

In 2005, when Mr. Berretta attempted to cut off NTDTV's broadcast into China, Wall Street Journal revealed that he sought to use NTDTV as a pawn to establish a business relationship with the PRC regime. International outcry and an outpouring of support for information freedom helped reverse that decision. Today Mr. Berretta is again exposed for repeating his attempt with a more subtle excuse.

The European Union's charter that created Eutelsat required the practice of non-discrimination, equal access, and respect for media pluralism. Eutelsat's own corporate description states: "For millions of homes, the Group's satellites are synonymous with openness and exchange." Mr. Berretta's action has put its international and European commitments in jeopardy.

A regime that fears the freedom of speech is a weak regime. Any corporation seeking favor from such a regime is sacrificing long-term benefits for short-term gains. NTDTV now calls on the international community, all parties that have an interest in Eutelsat, the media and supporters of information freedom to once again denounce Mr. Berretta's attempt, to rescue the only free satellite window, to restore free TV broadcast access to millions of Chinese, and to save Eutelsat's own reputation and interest.

Source: New Tang Dynasty Television

CONTACT: Carrie Hung, New Tang Dynasty Television,
carrie.hung@ntdtv.com, +1-917-319-0219

Web site: http://www.ntdtv.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment