The Unlawyer

Satellite TV programs come and go. That’s a fact of life every satellite TV enthusiast must learn to live with. One station that recently made a change was the Voice of America (VOA), which recently decided to terminate its contract with Eutelsat to relay VOA radio and TV broadcasts, as well as Radio Free Asia programs, on its W5 satellite, which can be viewed across southeast Asia and much of China by people equipped with small satellite dishes.

As of today, VOA no longer relays its programs via Eutelsat W5.

One organization, however, views this event in a very sinister light. Apsattv links to an Epoch Times article that says: Independent Satellite Stations Could Go Black in China.

“In 2005, the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) signed a contract with European satellite operator Eutelsat to let Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Asia (RFA), and U.S.-based non-governmental television and radio channels to broadcast to tens of millions of small satellite dishes across China on a long-term, protected basis. One of these television stations includes New York-based New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV).

“The original broadcasting agreement was strongly supported by Congress and the current U.S. Administration. On July 31, BBG will cease to broadcast uncensored programs into China.

“Since 2005, an “Open Satellite Window” agreement assured the 24/7 free flow of broadcasting into China. This agreement ensured a lifeline of open debate on the Olympics, the Tibet crisis, the Chinese earthquake, and other issues that the Chinese state-run media historically avoid reporting.”

Last June, NTDTV ceased transmitting via Eutelsat W5, allegedly because of a component failure onboard the satellite that reduced the available energy required to power its transponders. NTDTV, a sister organization of The Epoch Times, disagrees with this diagnosis:

“One of the stations affected by the loss of transponders, New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV) believes this explanation is a sham, and says that a recorded conversation by a Eutelsat employee shows the “power anomaly” really “was a premeditated, politically-motivated decision violating the free flow of information and the convention under which Eutelsat operates.”

“NTDTV, citing evidence provided by Journalists Without Borders (RSF), says it has proof that it was a deliberate decision to curry favour with Beijing and to satisfy Beijing’s long standing demand of taking NTDTV down as a precondition for large business deals.”

Eutelsat has categorically denied this accusation.

Until they were interrupted, the satellite broadcasts of VOA, NTDTV, and RFA on Eutelsat W5 were the only programs of any sort that made it past Chinese government censors unmolested, in a country where the idea of free-flowing information is an alien concept well officially anyway. As everybody well knows, the Chinese government does not permit its citizens to freely access websites critical of it. Foreign TV broadcasts distributed in China via cable are delayed by several seconds to allow censors to catch and block objectionable content. Foreign shortwave broadcasts are regularly jammed.

It is still possible for viewers in mainland China to watch and listen to VOA and RFA via satellite by tuning in to the broadcasts on Asiasat 3S, but this requires a much bigger and less-concealable satellite dish. At the moment, Chinese law prohibits ordinary citizens from owning satellite TV receivers and dishes. Moreover, as The Epoch Times points out, Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited, the company that owns Asiasat 3S, is in itself partially owned by the CITIC Group, an investment house owned by the Chinese government, which could bear pressure on the company to stop broadcasts it deems offensive.

The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the US government body having supervision over VOA and RFA, has yet to respond to thinly-veiled accusation that its decision to cease broadcasting via Eutelsat W5 was politically motivated. It may very well be that BBG was merely trying to save on costs, but it was a curious decision nonetheless, and it must explain itself.