By RUADHHÁN MAC CORMAIC
Irish Times, August 01, 2008
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/0801/breaking58.htm
The Government should raise objections to the suspension of an independent Chinese TV station by a European satellite operator, which was allegedly done to please the authorities in Beijing, a meeting in Dublin heard today.
A New York-based TV station with links to the Falun Gong movement, New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV) lost transmission into China last month and services have yet to be restored. Eutelsat, its European satellite operator, said the suspension was due to a technical problem.
Patricia McKenna of the Green Party claimed today that the service into China was cut by Eutelsat to gain favour with the Chinese government, and said there was an onus on Minister for the Arts Martin Cullen to raise the issue before he travels to Beijing for the Olympic Games next week.
"If we allow these kind of companies to decide at the behest of governments that repress their people to restrict access to information, then we are actually facilitating that oppression," she said.
"There is an onus on us to speak out for the voiceless in China, who have no right to protest, no right to freedom of speech, no right of access to the media."
Sinn Féin MEP Mary Lou McDonald said Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan should "exert pressure" on Eutelsat, which also transmits RTE Radio 1.
"What we have here is a clear case of censorship. It's as simple and as clear-cut as that. The Irish Government and the European Commission need to make absolutely clear that we will not be complicit in censorship. We will not tolerate the ongoing subjugation of Chinese people's rights," she said.
Ms McDonald pointed to a report by Reporters without Borders, a press freedom lobby group, which claims the satellite service was cut because its programmes annoyed the Chinese authorities.
"NTDTV's broadcasts irked the Chinese government because, thanks to this satellite, they could be freely received in tens of millions of Chinese homes," the group said. "Their suspension just a few weeks ahead of the Olympic Games looks like a favour provided by Eutelsat with the aim of obtaining new deals. Eutelsat tried to drop NTDTV once before, in 2005, but an international campaign forced it to sign a new long term contract."
Eutelsat insists the loss of NTDTV was due to a technical problem. In a statement, the Paris-based company said its W5 satellite had suffered serious technical problems that forced it to reduce the number of transponders and stop broadcasting several TV stations.
Since it had no alternative satellite providing coverage of South-East Asia and parts of China, it was not possible to resolve the problem for clients only interested in broadcasting over that region. But while other stations had found alternative ways to broadcast, Eutelsat understood NTDTV has not explored other remedies.
"Eutelsat affirms that it holds absolutely no prejudice against channels broadcast by its satellites, and notably NTDTV", said the company's general counsel, Philippe Mc Allister.