Epoch Times | Eutelsat's Conditions are Too Harsh; NTDTV Raises More Than $100,000 for Broadcasting Freedom

Negotiations between NTDTV and Eutelsat shift back and forth in waves of disturbance. According to the head office of NTDTV, at this time Eutelsat intends to force NTDTV to obey the restrictive conditions that Eutelsat has demanded. These conditions would require abandoning the principles of free speech and self-censoring content that might be objectionable to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP.)

During the last round of debate, after hearing the voices from all over the world speaking out in support for NTDTV, Eutelsat agreed to negotiate. During the negotiation period, NTDTV's contract to broadcast to Asia through Eutelsat's W5 Asia Beam was temporarily extended. However, Ms. Hong, spokesperson for NTDTV, recently indicated that even now Eutelsat has not shown any sincerity. At the moment, Eutelsat has expressed that if NTDTV does not accept Eutelsat's conditions, it will stop NTDTV's transmission to Asia on May 21. In fact, NTDTV cannot accept Eutelsat's conditions, because those conditions do not guarantee NTDTV's long-term rights to broadcast to Asia without interference from the CCP.

Meanwhile, NTDTV is appealing on a larger scale, asking for the support of the US government and the American people. At the same time, the public donation program Freedom Satellite for China , prompted by Mr. Wu Fan and others, has received more than US$100,000.

During the grand parade to support the one million withdrawals from the CCP held in New York on April 23, Mr. Wu Fan, the chief editor of China Affairs website, chief editor and director of China Spring , Pan-American Bank vice-chairman and CEO Cao An Ju Shi, vice-president of The Epoch Times , Professor Xie Tian of Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA, and Professor Ming Juzheng, former Dean of Political Department of Taiwan University initiated the Freedom Satellite for China Project , and asked people from all walks of life to donate to NTDTV to purchase satellite and channels in order to send transmission to China. On that day, between $40,000 and $50,000 was raised. According to Professor Xie Tian, currently more than $100,000 has been raised to date.

According to media insiders, many people do not understand why CCTV (China's communist-controlled Central Television) had rented transmission space on 37 satellites around the world, since six or eight satellites are enough to cover the whole globe and send transmission to every corner of the earth.

The CCP buys so much satellite space in order to expand its influence over various satellite companies, thereby controlling programming and limiting the amount of non-propaganda programming available to Chinese-speaking people anywhere in the world. The Eutelsat case is just one example of this.

According to Freedom Satellite for China Project , concerned individuals can make a donation using any of the following methods, and mark the donation Freedom Satellite for China Project >:

1. Make credit card payment online: (Visa，MasterCard，or American Express accepted.)

2. Mail a check payable to New Tang Dynasty TV to the head office of NTDTV in New York :

New Tang Dynasty Television
229 W. 28th Street, Suite 1200
New York, New York 10001
Tel: 212-736-8535 Fax: 212-736-8536

3. Annonymous Donations:

(Those who prefer to donate anonymously are welcome to consider the following methods):

1) Below US$5,000: Money Order
2) Over US$5,000: Bank Check or Cashier's Check
3) Wire Transfer to NTDTV:
Name of Bank：