Police seize reporter's materials while covering protest :CHINA

Olympic Games: Stadium in China
CHINA , 14 July 2008
European satellite operator suppresses independent Chinese-language TV station to satisfy Beijing
SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF calls on Giuliano Berretta, the CEO of the European satellite company Eutelsat, to quickly reverse the decision to suspend independent Chinese-language broadcaster NTDTV's use of Eutelsat's W5 satellite to broadcast to Asia.
Eutelsat claims it was forced to suspend NTDTV (New Tang Dynasty Television) on 16 June because of a technical problem, but a recorded conversation with an employee of Eutelsat shows it was a premeditated, politically-motivated decision violating the free flow of information and the convention under which Eutelsat operates.

"The real reason for the decision to suppress NTDTV exposes how Eutelsat operates in China," RSF said. "The company's credibility is at stake and we urge its shareholders to intervene as quickly as possible so that NTDTV can resume broadcasting on this satellite. If that is not done, none of the TV companies that are Eutelsat clients will ever be sure they could not also be arbitrarily disconnected one day because of their content."

RSF added: "NTDTV's broadcasts irked the Chinese government because, thanks to this satellite, they could be freely received in tens of millions of Chinese homes. 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."

In a recorded conversation on 23 June with an interlocutor the employee thought was a Chinese Propaganda Department official, a Eutelsat representative in Beijing said:

"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 reminders 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.'"
RSF is posting a transcript of this conversation on its website ( http://www.rsf.org ) and it has an audio recording that is available to the media.

A New York-based TV station with links to the Falun Gong spiritual movement, NTDTV began broadcasting in Chinese four years ago. Its programmes are very different from the content on China's state TV stations. There is a great deal of coverage of human rights issues, including the repression in Tibet and of religious groups such as Falungong
and the underground Christian churches.
The day after it stopped transmitting NTDTV, Eutelsat issued a statement saying the W5 satellite has suffered serious technical problems that had forced the company to reduce the number of transponders and stop broadcasting several TV stations.

Eutelsat and Thales, the French company that made the satellite, are doing more and more business in China. It was Thales that manufactured Zhongxing-9, the satellite that was put in orbit in June to guarantee good coverage of the Olympic Games. Eutelsat has signed a contract with China to use its Long March rocket to launch Eutelsat satellites. The Wall Street Journal wrote in April: "Eutelsat for years has been trying to find a way
to penetrate the Chinese market, and launch contracts are widely seen as one way to help reach that goal."

As a company headquartered in France, Eutelsat is nonetheless obliged to respect the principles of equality of access, pluralism and non-discrimination enshrined in article 3 of the convention governing the operations of satellite companies.

Ever since NTDTV was launched in February 2002, the Chinese government has been trying to get its broadcasts suppressed by pressuring satellite operators and governments.

For further information on NTDTV's previous problems with Eutelsat, see:
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/69314
For further information, contact Vincent Brossel, RSF, 47, rue Vivienne, 75002 Paris, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 70, fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51, e-mail: asia@rsf.org, Internet: http://www.rsf.org
The information contained in this alert is the sole responsibility of RSF.
In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit RSF.

CHINA, 16 July 2008
Police seize reporter's materials while covering protest
SOURCE: International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Brussels

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate the Hong Kong Journalists' Association (HKJA) today demanded an apology from the security bureau of Xicheng, Beijing, and the prompt of return journalistic materials seized from a Hong Kong reporter on July 11.
Chen Yang, a reporter for Ming Pao, was reportedly intercepted by four police, including two in plain clothes, while taking photos of hundreds of disgruntled investors protesting over alleged embezzlement of 170 million Chinese yuan by the President of the China Commodity Spot Exchange, Guo Yuanfeng.

Kevin Lau, Beijing Bureau Chief for Ming Pao, told the IFJ the police confiscated Chen's camera and memory card without explanation while checking his press card on July 11. Chen reportedly complained to the police and asked for the materials to be returned.
Lau also complained to the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, and to central government representatives.
"This is unacceptable when we consider that it happened in the capital of China, Beijing, and during the Olympic Games period," Lau said.
The IFJ supports the HKJA's call for a "full and open explanation from the relevant authorities about this incident".
"Heavy-handed interference in a journalist's work is a direct attack on press freedom," said IFJ Asia-Pacific.
"China must ensure that journalists from Hong Kong and the rest of the world can report freely on matters of public importance without interference from government or security officials."

For further information, contact IFJ Asia-Pacific, tel: +612 9333 0919, or
the IFJ, International Press Centre, Residence Palace, Block C, 155 Rue de
la Loi, B-1040 Brussels, Belgium, tel: +322 235 2200 / 2207, fax: +322 235
2219, e-mail: rachel.cohen@ifj.org, Internet: http://www.ifj.org/

The information contained in this alert is the sole responsibility of IFJ.
In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit IFJ.
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