SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - On the evening of August 24, 2005, The Epoch Times held a forum to discuss the influence of the Chinese Communist Party on surrounding countries, as well as a CCP plan to crush all unbiased overseas media organizations.
At a Sydney Auditorium, former police superintendent and 610 officer Hao Fengjun addressed the audience by taped video recording, in which he outlined a plan that the Chinese government has hatched to attack and neutralize foreign media as part of its overall efforts to control public opinion outside of China. The plan was first presented at a meeting of 610 Office higher ups held last year in Shenzen, where according to Hao, The Epoch Times , New Tang Dynasty TV, and Sound Of Hope radio network were specifically singled out as part of a broader plan to undermine the effectiveness of overseas media.
The plan specified that secret 610 Office agents would be dispatched to infiltrate and sow mayhem within these media organizations, the end goal being nothing less than their complete disintegration. The agents were given instructions to divide and demoralize the staff at each of these media organizations, stirring up conflicts and turning them against each other.
Hao explained that the emerging Democratic movement has the CCP angry and frightened, and as in 1989, when the government chose to massacre its own defenseless people to stop the tide of democratic change, the CCP is once again stopping at nothing in its desperate attempt to hold onto power.
The truthful reporting of these three media on such sensitive issues as the persecution of Falun Gong, the June 4th Tianamen Square Massacre, and the emergence of a strong democratic movement in China, has left the CCP on the defensive and desperate to silence these voices of truth so damaging to their attempt to maintain a continued despotism in China.
Hao pointed out that the CCP is used to using the media as a propaganda tool, as it maintains its power through tight control of information. It finds the actuality of media organizations capable of unobstructed and unbiased news broadcasts, to be completely terrifying, as the truth is the worst enemy of the CCP.
He added that he believes the CCP has succeeded in manipulating the Malaysian government to force out The Epoch Times , effectively banning the paper within its borders. Hao feels that Australia is next in line for similar treatment, with the CCP shifting its focus to force the Australian government to ban The Epoch Times , NTD TV, and Sound Of Hope Radio.
Media Suppression Is Tied To Falun Gong Persecution
Yuan Hongbing, the well-known Chinese dissident and law professor, elaborated on the CCP's plan to squelch the "three media."
Yuan said that the CCP regards Sound Of Hope Radio as having the most influence on China, because the short-wave frequency channel has many listeners. The Epoch Times , on the other hand, has a tremendous influence on overseas Chinese. Since the English edition was published, the CCP has ordered overseas agents and workers to pay close attention to the influence that The Epoch Times has on mainstream societies.
Yuan reminded those assembled that the larger context for these moves against the media, is the continued suppression and persecution of Falun Gong. The CCP plan, in fact, contains guidelines for using the same tactics that have been used to disintegrate pro- democracy movements, against Falun Gong. In addition, it specifies that maximum effort must be made to isolate Falun Gong practitioners from their local Chinese communities, in an attempt to further separate them from mainstream society.
The Taiwan Issue
Yuan believes that the CCP has formulated basic diplomatic strategies for manipulating the countries of the world—with special attention placed on relations with Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and Australia. The idea is to penetrate fully into all areas of these countries, including political, economical, cultural, and educational, to the degree that these countries essentially become political colonies of the CCP. The CCP will then use these countries as mouthpieces for its propaganda. Also, if a war were to break out with Taiwan, these countries would be effectively neutralized.
Yuan again points to Malaysia as an example of China's ideological colonialism.
Representatives from The Epoch Times and Sound of Hope in Sydney, and NTDTV in Australia spoke in detail about each station's objectives, broadcasting methods, and plans for further development. They also gave concrete examples of how they had each experienced the CCP's efforts at suppression. The CCP has spread false information to slander these media groups among overseas Chinese communities as well as in the mainstream societies. It has attempted to smear the reputation of, discriminate against, isolate, and set these independent medias against each other.
Some Notable CCP Attempts At Media Suppression:
* On June 20, 2005, an envelope containing an unknown white powder was sent to The Epoch Times office in Sydney. The envelope also contained abusive messages directed at employees of The Epoch Times , handwritten on a pamphlet in red ink. The police sealed off the area surrounding the building for a few hours to prevent hazardous contamination. The Epoch Times offices around the world are frequently harassed with threatening phone calls and the newspapers are often stolen or destroyed.
* On June 2, 2005, the Malaysian government began confiscating all issues of The Epoch Times coming into the country from Indonesia. The paper has been published weekly in Southeast Asia for over a year.
* On May 14, 2005, a printing company in Hong Kong abruptly stopped printing The Epoch Times due to the CCP's threats. This threatened to prevent the newspaper from being published.
* In January, 2005, NTDTV suddenly received a notice stating that French satellite provider Eutelsat, was threatening to terminate their contract. Insiders revealed that the CCP paid a handsome amount as bait, threatened to strip Eutelsat of exclusive rights to broadcast the 2008 Olympics, and tried to force Eutelsat to agree to never again transmit NTDTV's signals into China.
* In July 2005, the CCP used military equipment purchased from the Thales Group, a company based in France, to jam the frequency of Sound Of Hope's broadcasts. It has used a whole range of interference and jamming techniques to jam Sound Of Hope broadcasts, far surpassing those used hitherto to block RFI, BBC, VOA, and Radio Free Asia.
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