Press freedom advocates Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has issued a condemnation of the decision of European satellite operator Eutelsat not to renew the contract under which independent, Chinese-language broadcaster New Tang Dynasty TV (NTDTV) uses Eutelsat satellites to broadcast to Asia and China.
RSF called on Eutelsat to allow NTDTV to continue using its satellites, pointing out that the New York-based TV network had not broken any laws.
"Broadcasting in China is cruelly lacking in diversity," Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard said. "It is regrettable that European companies are yielding to pressure from the Chinese government and that, in this questionable fashion, they are putting an end to the broadcasts of a TV station that has the merit of offering alternative news to a Chinese audience, especially in the People's Republic of China."
On 16 March, a high-level court in Paris will hear the lawsuit brought by French lawyers acting for UCN, the company that produces and broadcasts NTDTV, against Eutelsat and the satellite capacity broker London Satellite Exchange (LSE).
NTDTV accuses Eutelsat and LSE of refusing to let it renew its contract to use Eutelsat's W5 satellite. NTDTV has always respected the conditions of its license it, nor has it ever acted in any way to justify the action against it.
Reporters Without Borders pointed out that the Paris-based Eutelsat is bound to respect the principles of equal access, diversity and non-discrimination under Article 3 of the convention governing companies of this kind.
Chinese Government Says "Put an End to this Broadcasting Immediately"
LSE told NTDTV on 20 December that its use of Eutelsat satellites would end on 21 March although the contract it signed in March 2004 stipulates that the agreement would be renewed automatically for a year. Eutelsat denies playing any role in this decision, but Reporters Without Borders is aware of a Chinese government instruction to Eutelsat in May 2004 demanding it to "put an end to this broadcasting immediately."
The Chinese information ministry has said that the broadcasting of NTDTV's programs "is not authorized in our country" and that "their content violates the laws of the People's Republic of China." NTDTV offers a wide range of programming, including programs presented by pro-democracy dissidents and news programs that are very different from the propaganda on China's state-owned television network, CCTV.
The Beijing government also accuses NTDTV of supporting the banned Falun Gong meditation practice. Members of this spiritual practice are severely repressed in China. NTDTV is one of the few media outlets providing Chinese-speaking viewers accurate information about the six-year-long crackdown.
CCTV is available in more than 30 satellite multi-channel packages, although six would suffice to reach 99 per cent of the world's population. This massive presence enables the Chinese government to blackmail satellite operators.
A History of Chinese Interference
NTDTV's contract with satellite operator New Skies Satellites (NSS) for Asia transmission ended on May 1, 2004. Netherlands-based satellite operator NSS had begun broadcasting the channel on open signal to Asia on July 1 of 2003. However, because of threats of financial reprisals against the company made to NSS representatives in Beijing, NSS encrypted the signal, preventing Chinese satellite dish owners from seeing the channel. In January 2004, pressure was intensified to ensure that NTDTV was completely excluded from NSS-6 Asia satellite transmission.
In February 2003, Atlanta-based US operator ADTH broke an agreement to carry NTDTV for fear of losing contracts with other Chinese channels.
NTDTV, which says it is now accessible to 200 million viewers around the world, recently won the support of 49 European MPs and other politicians from European countries who wrote to the head of Eutelsat asking him to "maintain our joint commitment to fundamental European values and agreements, so that this 'open satellite window' continues to grow wider."
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