New Tang Dynasty Television: Difference between revisions
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== History == |
== History == |
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In 2001, a group of professionals and businessmen, all practitioners of Falun Gong, conceived the idea of a television station that would support their voice in regard to Chinese culture and Chinese government policies. NTDTV began broadcasting via satellite in North America in February 2002, and expanded its audience into mainland China in April 2004. At present, the station's satellite coverage reaches Asia, Europe, and Australia in several languages. It claims to be the "first and only independent Chinese-language TV."<ref>[http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/vision.html History and Vision], http://english.ntdtv.com/, Accessed 2009-08-17</ref> |
In 2001, a group of professionals and businessmen, all practitioners of Falun Gong (FLG), conceived the idea of a television station that would support their voice in regard to Chinese culture and Chinese government policies. NTDTV began broadcasting via satellite in North America in February 2002, and expanded its audience into mainland China in April 2004. At present, the station's satellite coverage reaches Asia, Europe, and Australia in several languages. It claims to be the "first and only independent Chinese-language TV."<ref>[http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/vision.html History and Vision], http://english.ntdtv.com/, Accessed 2009-08-17</ref> |
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The ''Wall Street Journal'' reported in 2004 that the journal is registered as Universal Communications Network, which names top FLG spokesman Gail Rachlin as one of its three directors. It said "Where [''The Epoch Times''] and [NTDTV] are controversial is in their unwillingness to identify themselves as having any association with the group, despite ample evidence to the contrary."<ref>{{cite news |author=Susan V. Lawrence |title= Falun Gong Adds Media Weapons In Struggle With China's Rulers |work=Wall Street Journal (Eastern edition)|date=April 14, 2004 |page=B.2I }}</ref> |
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===''The Chinese New Year Spectacular''=== |
===''The Chinese New Year Spectacular''=== |
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Revision as of 05:34, 9 September 2009
New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV) (Chinese: 新唐人電視臺) is a Falun Gong-affiliated[1] Chinese language television broadcaster based in New York City, founded in 2001. The company's stated mission is "to foster mutual understanding between Chinese and Western societies" and promote multiculturalism, peace and compassion.
According to the Wall Street Journal, NTDTV is, along with The Epoch Times and Sound of Hope Radio Station, part of a "media empire" founded by and affiliated with Falun Gong practitioners.[2][3] NTDTV is known to sympathize with Falun Gong, and takes a critical line on the Communist Party of China. In January 2005 it aired[4] a video version of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, a political editorial condemning the Party.
NTDTV also puts on an annual Chinese New Year Spectacular, which is a Falun Gong-affiliated event that it says "celebrates Chinese culture".[1] The station's political leanings have prompted "bans" from the Chinese government, leading to a controversy involving French network Eutelsat. The Epoch Times reported that the Chinese government allegedly attacked the station unfairly.[5]
History
In 2001, a group of professionals and businessmen, all practitioners of Falun Gong (FLG), conceived the idea of a television station that would support their voice in regard to Chinese culture and Chinese government policies. NTDTV began broadcasting via satellite in North America in February 2002, and expanded its audience into mainland China in April 2004. At present, the station's satellite coverage reaches Asia, Europe, and Australia in several languages. It claims to be the "first and only independent Chinese-language TV."[6]
The Wall Street Journal reported in 2004 that the journal is registered as Universal Communications Network, which names top FLG spokesman Gail Rachlin as one of its three directors. It said "Where [The Epoch Times] and [NTDTV] are controversial is in their unwillingness to identify themselves as having any association with the group, despite ample evidence to the contrary."[7]
The Chinese New Year Spectacular
The Chinese New Year Spectacular is a live show performed in various major cities around the globe annually, and aired globally by NTDTV. It is billed as a "celebrat[ion of] traditional Chinese culture and tradition." The company employs two troupes, and estimates that aproximately 200 performances were scheduled for 2008 expected to cater to 600,000 people. According to the company, the number of people who saw the show in 2007 was about 200,000.[8]
In 2008, it provoked controversy when elements of performances and imagery depicting persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese government were included in its show at Radio City Music Hall. Some of the acts in the show included enactments of torture, and videos and photographs of beaten victims.[8] Advertisements for the show on Metro trains, the show’s website, publicity flyers and in The New York Times, etc. made no mention of Falun Gong. Critics decried the performance for not being 'as advertised'.[8][9]. In addition, the Star said that the choreography was "consistently banal... The dancers were under-rehearsed and unremarkable."[9] The Daily News criticized NTDTV's apparently misleading advertisement of the show.[citation needed] The Chinese embassy in the United States accused NTDTV of being used to "spread anti-China propaganda" and "distorting Chinese culture"[10] Joe Wei, national editor of the World Journal, who attended the 2008 and 2007 shows, was baffled. He said the group’s shows a year earlier had "no Falun Gong imagery."[8]
Chinese government response
Because of NTDTV's association with Falun Gong, as well as its broadcasting of anti-Communist, pro-Falun Gong stance, there has been a running battle between NTDTV and the People's Republic of China, with the Chinese government allegedly trying to convince the satellite operators to stop carrying NTDTV broadcasts.[11]
As reported in The Korea Times on January 7, 2007, a Korean theater scheduled to host the Korean NTDTV Chinese new year performance canceled the contract at the last minute. Show organizers reported that the National Theater initially told them it was being forced to cancel because China was threatening the Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism with cancellations of upcoming Korean shows in Mainland China.[citation needed] However, NTDTV says that the theater later denied such pressure, saying that the show was canceled due to its breaching a restriction against foreign performers.[12]
Eutelsat-NTDTV censorship controversy
Reporters Without Borders accused Eutelsat of closing down transmissions of NTDTV in June 2008 to appease the Chinese government.[13] In a press release on 10 July 2008, Reporters Without Borders called on Giuliano Berretta, the CEO of the European satellite company Eutelsat, to quickly reverse its decision to suspend NTDTV’s use of Eutelsat's W5 satellite to broadcast to Asia. RSF was in possession of a conversation that was purportedly recorded with a Beijing employee of Eutelsat who was led to believe his interlocutor was a Chinese Propaganda Department official RSF; it said the transcript showed that the NTDTV shutdown was a "premeditated, politically-motivated decision violating the free flow of information and the convention under which Eutelsat operates". RSF alleged that the suspension of the NTDTV feed just prior to the Olympic Games "looks like a favour provided by Eutelsat with the aim of obtaining new deals".[13] Eutelsat tried to drop NTDTV once before in 2005, but an international campaign forced it to sign a new long term contract."[14] Eutelsat claimed that the shutdown was due to a technical failure.
On 20 August, 2008, International Federation of Journalists released a statement calling on Eutelsat "to reinstall the Chinese-language television station NTDTV and three Mandarin radio stations" including Sound of Hope. According to the statement, Eutelsat's arguments concerning technical problems looked "increasingly bogus". Furthermore, the statement points out how the approaching Beijing Olympics could have resulted in the Chinese government's increasing pressure to get NTDTV off the air.[15]
The European Parliament also called on Eutelsat to reverse their decision to shut down NTDTV. Following a written declaration, Eutelsat immediately issued a press release, denying all charges of discrimination against NTDTV. The company insists that NTDTV's shutdown resulted solely from the technical failure experienced by W5 satellite, and adds that NTDTV is being broadcast across Europe via Eutelsat's HOT BIRD video neighbourhood.[16]
References
- ^ a b Haithman, Diane (7 January 2008). "Ties to Falun Gong add controversy to the Chinese New Year Spectacular". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Chen, Kathy Chinese Dissidents Take On Beijing Via Media Empire Wall Street Journal 11-15-2007
- ^ http://www.usembassy.it/pdf/other/RL33437.pdf Lum, Thomas CRS Report page CRS-8, list of Falun Gong-affiliated media
- ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20060510023534/http://www.ntdtv.com/xtr/eng/aAboutXTR_e.htm
- ^ "CCP Allegedly Attacks New York Dance Competition". The Epoch Times. 2007-06-20. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
- ^ History and Vision, http://english.ntdtv.com/, Accessed 2009-08-17
- ^ Susan V. Lawrence (April 14, 2004). "Falun Gong Adds Media Weapons In Struggle With China's Rulers". Wall Street Journal (Eastern edition). p. B.2I.
- ^ a b c d Konigsberg, Eric (02-06), "A Glimpse of Chinese Culture That Some Find Hard to Watch", The New York Times
{{citation}}: Check date values in:|date=and|year=/|date=mismatch (help) - ^ a b Susan Walker (Falun) Gong New Year event mere propaganda, The Totonto Star, Jan 20, 2008
- ^ "Enjoy the Holidays and Stay away from the so-called "Chinese New Year Gala" of the New Tang Dynasty Television". Chinese Embassy in the United States of America. 7 January 2008.
- ^ http://www.sunshinepress.org/wiki/Eutelsat_suppresses_independent_Chinese-language_TV_station_NTDTV_to_satisfy_Beijing
- ^ "Beijing Bullies Korean Government into Blocking NTDTV Show; Now Targeting Corporate Sponsors" (Press release). New Tang Dynasty Television. 2007-01-17. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
- ^ a b Reporters Without Borders: European satellite operator Eutelsat suppresses independent Chinese-language TV station NTDTV to satisfy Beijing, 10 July 2008, retrieved on 2009-01-19
- ^ Gossett, Sherrie (18 April 2005). "French Company Accused of Pro-Beijing Censorship".
- ^ International Federation of Journalists: IFJ Calls on Eutelsat To End Bar on Chinese NTDTV Broadcasts, 20 August 2008, retrieved on 2009-01-19
- ^ Eutelsat reaffirms to European institutions the irreversible and purely technical nature of the incident resulting in the interruption of consumer broadcasting services through its W5 satellite, 15 January 2009, retrieved on 2009-01-19