(Clearwisdom.net) We have always believed that people in the world's free countries would not let self-interest overcome freedom and conscience! NTDTV was the one television station that we could access in China, which values freedom and gave us a refreshing window on the world. But it has now been denied us because the satellite company that transmitted NTDTV's signal, Eutelsat, has succumbed to Chinese Communist Party pressure.
Everyone has a dream. My dream is that I can live in any free country in the world, because there I would have the freedoms I have yearned for so long: freedom of speech and freedom of belief. In China, people cannot enjoy these basic human rights, even though the Chinese Constitution guarantees them under law. NTDTV provided a window into a better world.
Ordinary Chinese citizens live a miserable life under the Communist regime's extreme autocracy. As the common saying goes, "The education reform has driven my parents to insanity; the medical reform has brought about the deaths of my parents, and the housing reform has emptied the pockets of the ordinary folks."
The people feel constrained and live in terror. Privately, all condemn the bloody brutality of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) dictatorship, but they do not dare openly speak out; otherwise, they would have to look forward to a terrible fate: imprisonment or even death! During the Tiananmen Square massacre of June 4, 1989 when students openly opposed corruption and pleaded for democracy, they were ruthlessly slaughtered.
Falun Gong practitioners exposed the persecution and were subjected to the policy of "Ruin their reputation, bankrupt them financially and destroy them physically." Many practitioners had their organs harvested while they were still alive, to be sold for profit. Such atrocities have shocked the whole world.
As for the recent earthquake in Wenchuan, the CCP did not inform the people when they had in fact known about the oncoming earthquake. They bungled the chance of a timely rescue within the first 72 hours after the quake; the "tofu" (shoddy) constructionof the schools doubled the tragedy of the disaster, and more than 100,000 people perished as a result.
The reason that the CCP dares to treat human lives as if they were worthless lies largely in their strict information blockade. There is no public scrutiny of their policies or actions, and therefore the CCP can do anything it likes. The CCP-controlled media only sings the regime's praises, regardless of the people's misery, and does not shy away from spreading lies, stirring up hatred and inciting violence. The recent violence against Falun Gong practitioners in Flushing, New York is none other than the CCP's practice of exporting their tactics of lies and violence overseas - an open challenge to the whole world.
NTDTV is the only window through which the Chinese people can receive the truth and facts. NTDTV has always shown concern for civil rights and for the lives of the people in Mainland China. This media outlet has courageously spoken out for the disadvantaged groups and those affected by the CCP's persecutions. Many Chinese people installed satellite dishes, at risk of losing their lives (in China, the CCP forbids installation of satellite dishes, to prevent people from having access to actual information). Courageous people thus learned truths and facts, gaining access to the booklet the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, learning about the actual events surrounding the "SARS" epidemic, the persecution of Falun Gong, the earthquake in Sichuan and the "red terror" in Flushing, among other major news stories.
People are beginning to wake up and are starting to think independently about the deception they have been subjected to over decades under CCP rule. NTDTV has become an indispensable part of life for many people in Mainland China. People need it - it is a light in the darkness.
NTDTV's truthful reporting and information have exposed the CCP's falsehood and lies. Thus, the regime feels that its rule based on deception, bribery, graft, embezzlement, violence and corruption is under threat. Because of this, the regime views NTDTV as a thorn in its side, and it has never stopped pressuring and trying to bribe Eutelsat to abandon its principles of fair journalism in order to gain lucratice contracts with the CCP.
According to the Wall Street Journal, in 2005, Eutelsat tried to stop NTDTV's broadcast to Asia in exchange for huge financial interests from the Beijing authorities. Later on, after numerous appeals from various sectors worldwide as well as pressure with strong condemnation from the United States, from Members of Parliament of the European Union and the international media, Eutelsat at last agreed to restore its contract with NTDTV and promised to continue to broadcast NTDTV's signal to Asia.
Recently, Alcatel, Eutelsat's largest shareholder, signed a billion dollar contract with the CCP. Within a few hours, NTDTV's signal to the Asian region via Eutelsat W5 was suddenly cut off, resulting in the whole of Asia, including China, unable to watch NTDTV's programs [EutelSat has since declared that the "technical problems" it had encountered are now resolved].
We hope that Eutelsat will not abandon its principles regarding ethics and conscience for short-term interests. If Eutelsat officials are ignorant of the CCP's evildoings, they should read the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party; if they are unaware of the frightening consequences of colluding with the evildoing CCP, then they need to take a look at the policies the big powers had adopted toward World War II's Nazi Germany.
As Chinese, the shameful conduct of the members of the ruling regime does not surprise us - imposing an information blockade on the Chinese people, squandering people's blood and sweat money - because the CCP has always ignored human rights and people's lives, and has completely disregarded freedom. The regime's media know nothing else but to constantly fabricate lies and instill lies into people' minds every day, especially its slanderous lies about Falun Gong. No one in China is able to hear the voice of Falun Gong, because there is no freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, or freedom of expression. All the news people see or read in China is what the regime has cooked up, preventing them from accessing any true information. They live with the regime's lies to the day they die.
As a Falun Gong practitioner I strive to be a good person according to the principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and to achieve a state of spiritual freedom and tranquillity. However, under this oppressive regime I live on tenterhooks every day.
My mother and younger brother have been detained in prison a number of times for adhering to the beliefs of Falun Gong and have been subjected to high-intensity abuse including beatings in forced labor camps. My younger brother is once again detained and has been sentenced to five years of imprisonment. Although my older brother and brother-in-law are not Falun Gong practitioners, the regime has also harassed them according to the ruling party's implication policy. Only because they have relatives who practice Falun Gong, the authorities constantly harass my older brother and his wife, severely affecting their normal life and work. Our home has been ransacked many times, and the police have confiscated our personal belongings.
I have not been able to go home for a number of years to see my family and have endured much pain as a result. There are tens of thousands of families in China like mine; the suffering I have experienced is happening every day. Right now, Dafa practitioners are illegally arrested every day under the pretext of "security for the Olympics" and there are constraints in place to prevent people from going to Beijing to appeal [a right granted by the Chinese Constitution]. The Chinese people are truly to be pitied.
I was once detained for more than 40 days for appealing for my belief and was prevented from practicing the Falun Gong exercises or to read Falun Gong books. I was often interrogated and was locked up in a room where inmates had to eat, drink, sleep, and relieve themselves in the same place. We were forbidden to go out for any fresh air and were deprived of sleep. Many of us were crowded together. There were no beds; everyone slept on the floor, with each person being allowed a space of around only 20 cm wide. In the winter we had to use icy cold water to wash our face and brush our teeth, and the food was poor quality. We suffered very unfair treatment in detention.
I decided to leave home and live in exile, to avoid further persecution. I cannot tell others I practice Falun Gong and believe in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance because if I do, I will be arrested. The ruthless ways in which the ruling regime has persecuted Falun Gong are beyond description. Practitioners are a civilized group of people who pursue good health and higher spiritual realms. The regime has caused me endless misery and pain. However, even under such adverse circumstances, practitioners have endured all the humiliation and injustice and continue to clarify the facts to people; even when they are detained and persecuted, they still unyieldingly express their aspirations in a peaceful manner. They need moral support from all kindhearted people and organizations around the world.
Isn't the persecution of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance a trampling of universal values? What will become of the world when it loses the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance? What does it mean to a big corporation when it conducts itself in a perfidious manner?
I sincerely hope Eutelsat will reconsider this matter, and I also hope that just actions taken by kindhearted and wise people around the world will enable NTDTV to re-enter into the lives of the people in China as soon as possible!
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Category: Perspectives
