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New Tang Dynasty Television

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"NTDTV" redirects here. For a television station in the Northern Territory, Australia, see NTD.
New Tang Dynasty Television
New Tang Dynasty Television
Traditional Chinese新唐人電視臺
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinXīntángrén Diànshìtái

New Tang Dynasty (NTD) Television is a television broadcaster based in New York City, with correspondents in over 70 cities worldwide. Its stated mission is to bring truthful and uncensored information into and out of China; to restore and promote traditional Chinese culture; and to facilitate mutual understanding between the East and West.[1]

The company was referred to as NTDTV until mid-2010, when the preferred abbreviation was shortened to NTD.

History

NTD was founded as in 2001 as a Chinese news media. Its mission is to offer uncensored news about China that other Chinese media would not cover. The station has a regular focus on the promotion of traditional Chinese culture, and devotes extensive news coverage to Chinese human rights issues, taking a critical stance on abuses of power by the Communist Party of China. [citation needed]

Since its founding, NTD has expanded to include English, Spanish, Japanese, French, Russian, Persian, Hebrew and several other language editions. Its content offerings include news and analysis, arts and culture, travel, entertainment news, health and lifestyle, and children’s programming.[2]

The station's critical reporting on the Communist Party of China has prompted censorship and alleged [by whom?] interference with its reporting and business operations by the Chinese government. [citation needed]

NTD 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.

According to the Wall Street Journal, NTD 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.[3][4] The Wall Street Journal reported in 2004 that the journal is registered as Universal Communications Network, which names top Falun Gong spokesman Gail Rachlin as one of its three directors. NTD's President Zhong Lee denied that NTD is a Falun Gong TV station, however, and maintained that the station's operation is independent from Falun Gong.[5]

The station's broadcasts can theoretically reach 200 million viewers globally, including 50 million in mainland China, according to the Wall Street Journal.[6][failed verification]

Programming

NTDTV journalist broadcasting from the Royal Swedish Academy in Stockholm, Sweden, at the announcement of Mo Yan as 2012 Nobel laureate in literature

NTD broadcasts 24/7, and offers a variety of original and syndicated programming, including news, arts and culture shows, travel, entertainment news, health and lifestyle, and children’s programing.[7]

The station is best known for its news and analysis segments, which have been noted for an emphasis on issues such as human rights abuses in China, including the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the station broke news of SARS in 2003, three weeks before the Chinese government admitted publically that there was an epidemic. (It went on to cause at least 774 deaths.) The station offered extensive coverage of democratic elections in Taiwan, and the death of purged former Chinese General Secretary Zhao Ziyang. The Chinese-language station regularly airs a video version of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, an editorial series offering a strong critique of Chinese Communist Party rule.[8]

Cultural outreach

As part of its mission to promote “appreciation and awareness of traditional Chinese culture,” NTD organizes and produces a variety of cultural outreach programs, including Chinese classical dance, martial arts, and culinary competitions. The station frames these activities within a context of reviving true Chinese cultural and moral traditions that have been lost under Communist Party rule.

From 2004 to 2006, NTD produced and televised an annual Chinese New Year Spectacular, a performance featuring classical Chinese dance and music. The show's performances contained ethnic and folk dances, dances depicting Chinese legends and moral tales, solo musical performances, and messaging and imagery sympathetic to Falun Gong, and included artistic representations of the persecution of practitioners in China. These shows have since been continued as traveling stage productions by a dedicated organisation, Shen Yun Performing Arts.

In 2008, the station began organizing a series of annual competitions open to ethnic Chinese participants in fields of classical Chinese dance, martial arts, traditional clothing design, painting, music, photography, and Chinese cooking.[9]

Censorship

NTD's anti-Communist Party stance and reportage on human rights issues in China has led to interference and political pressure from the Chinese Communist Party and its overseas embassies.[10] In turn, along with dissuading government officials from attending the New Year's show, the Chinese embassy in the United States accused NTD of being used to "spread anti-China propaganda" and "distorting Chinese culture".[11]

In January 2007, a theater in South Korea scheduled to host the New Year's performance cancelled their booking at the last minute, which NTD alleged was because China threatened actions against upcoming Korean shows in Mainland China.[12] It has also been reported that NASDAQ broke ties with the station around this time after Chinese pressure.[13]

In June 2008, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders ("RSF") accused Eutelsat of closing down transmissions of NTD through its W5 satellite to appease the Chinese government,[14] and appealed to Eutelsat CEO Giuliano Berretta to quickly reverse its decision to suspend NTD’s use of Eutelsat. According to RSF, the NTD shutdown was a "premeditated, politically motivated decision". RSF stated that they were in possession of a recording of a purported conversation with a Beijing employee of Eutelsat confirming the allegations.[14] Eutelsat claimed that the shutdown was due to a technical failure, and denied the validity of the conversation. [citation needed]

On August 20, 2008, the International Federation of Journalists released a statement calling on Eutelsat restore NTD and three radio stations including Sound of Hope. The statement accused Eutelsat of bowing down to political pressure, and argued how the approaching Beijing Olympics could have resulted in the Chinese government's increasing pressure to censor the broadcasting of NTD.[15]

The European Parliament also called on Eutelsat to reverse their decision to shut down NTD. Following this, Eutelsat issued a press release and written declaration, denying all charges of censorship against NTD. The company insists that NTD's shutdown resulted solely from the technical failure experienced by W5 satellite, and adds that NTD is being broadcast across Europe via Eutelsat's HOT BIRD video neighbourhood.[16]

In June 2010 the Canadian Prime Minister's Office cancelled a press conference that NTD and Epoch Times would have attended, so that Chinese President Hu Jintao would not come into contact with the broadcaster, allegedly following terms from the Chinese consulate. According to the Toronto Star, such press conferences are usually standard procedure for foreign leaders visiting the Parliament, and the cancellation was seen as an extraordinary measure to keep NTD away from the Chinese President.[17]

NTD Canada

On July 25, 2012, NTD Television officially launched NTD Canada, a local Canadian channel for Chinese viewers in Canada.[18] NTD Canada is a multilingual service airing programming in Cantonese, Mandarin, English and French, with an aim of reaching out to second and third generation Chinese-Canadians who may not speak Chinese as well as they do English or French.

See also

References

  1. ^ http://ntdtv.org/en/aboutus.html
  2. ^ NTD
  3. ^ Chen, Kathy Chinese Dissidents Take On Beijing Via Media Empire Wall Street Journal November 15, 2007
  4. ^ Lum, Thomas CRS Report page CRS-8, list of Falun Gong-affiliated media
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "Not a Pretty Dish". Wall Street Journal. March 17, 2005.
  7. ^ NTD
  8. ^ "New Tang Dynasty". Web.archive.org. May 10, 2006. Archived from the original on May 10, 2006.
  9. ^ NTD, Global Competition Series. Retrieved February 6, 2011
  10. ^ "Chinese Regime Tries to Crush Cultural Show in Canada". The Epoch Times. January 18, 2007. Retrieved June 13, 2007.
  11. ^ "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. January 7, 2008.
  12. ^ "Chinese Regime Pressures Seoul to Cancel Cultural Show". The Epoch Times. January 10, 2007. Retrieved June 13, 2007.
  13. ^ "Chinese State Security Demanded NASDAQ Eject Network, Cable Says". The Epoch Times. January 24, 2012.
  14. ^ a b Reporters Without Borders: European satellite operator Eutelsat suppresses independent Chinese-language TV station NTD to satisfy Beijing, July 10, 2008, retrieved on 2009-01-19
  15. ^ International Federation of Journalists: IFJ Calls on Eutelsat To End Bar on Chinese NTDTV Broadcasts, August 20, 2008, retrieved on 2009-01-19
  16. ^ 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, January 15, 2009, retrieved on 2009-01-19
  17. ^ Susan Delacourt, "Harper helps Hu keep critics away", Fri Jun 25, 2010
  18. ^ "New Tang Dynasty Multi-Language Channel Launched on Shaw Cablesystems in Western Canada".
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