International

'I'm pleased with the European Commission's announcement that they are going to do something about the blocking of NTDTV's broadcasts into China', says SP Euro-MP Erik Meijer in response to reports in the media. Meijer put a number of questions on the issue to the Commission at the beginning of July and in the same month took part in a demonstration protesting against the silencing of the news service. The questions have not yet received an answer from the Commission, however.

Erik Meijer during the Strasbourg demonstration in early July

French satellite corporation Eutelsat has been blocking the transmission of news programmes into China by New Tang Dynasty TV (NTDTV). Eutelsat pulled the plug on the eve of the Olympic Games, using the excuse of 'technical problems' with the retransmission of the signal. But the news service's management fears that the Chinese state has put pressure on Eutelsat to interrupt NTDTV's programmes, which have given attention to what Beijing sees as undesirable matters such as environmental disasters, the SARS outbreak, Tibet and the suppression of Chinese minorities. Reports indicate that Eutelsat complied with the Chinese government's wishes with an eye to lucrative contracts from Beijing.