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Chinese TV Station Blasts Satellite Provider For Pulling Plug
Brussels (AFP) Mar 15, 2005 Media lobbyists and EU lawmakers threw their weight Tuesday behind an independent Chinese-language broadcaster taking legal action against satellite provider Eutelsat for dropping its programs to China. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) alleged that Eutelsat had bowed to pressure from Beijing over the imminent end of a contract to broadcast programs by New Tang Dynasty TV (NTDTV) to China and Asia. "Without a credible explanation, we can only conclude that this is simply a craven sacrifice of principle," alleged IFJ head Aidan White, adding: "It diminishes free expression to satisfy the intolerance of Beijing." Eutelsat denied that it had given way to pressure. NTDTV board member Joe Zhao, who travelled from the broadcaster's US base for court action by the broadcaster in Paris Wednesday, lamented that Eutelsat was set to pull the plug on his channel's programs this week. "Eutelsat is preparing to slam shut the 'open satellite window' this week," he told a press conference in Brussels. "Instead of expanding the historic opening of the world's largest society to the free flow of broadcast information, Eutelsat is choosing to help Beijing reassert full content control over satellite broadcasting," he added. But the Paris-based satellite operator rejected the accusation, saying it was a purely commercial move at the end of a one-year contract between NTDTV and a London-based distributor of its services, London Satellite Exchange. "We're not reacting to pressure from the Chinese authorities or any other authorities," spokeswoman Vanessa O'Connor told AFP, noting that Eutelsat has no direct commercial relationship with NTDTV. "We have a one-year contact with LSE, which has been honoured," she added. But European Union (EU) lawmaker Charles Tannock said Eutelsat should reconsider its position. "In my view Eutelsat must allow NTDTV to carry on broadcasting otherwise it would send all the wrong signals to Beijing that we in the EU do not care how China treats its own people," he said. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Cyberwar - Internet Security News - Systems and Policy Issues
US Military Mounts International Psyops Campaign
Washington (AFP) Dec 14, 2005The US military is mounting a 300 million dollar psychological operations campaign to sway international opinion of the US war on terrorism through messages placed in foreign media, officials said Wednesday. |
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