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Cologne, Germany: Frequent Protests Reveal Satellite Company's Collusion with Chinese Communists to Switch Off NTDTV Broadcasts

Sept. 6, 2008 |   By a Western Falun Dafa practitioner in Germany

(Clearwisdom.net) For more than a month, Falun Gong practitioners have held rallies and informative events 3-4 days a week outside Eutelsat's branch office in Cologne, Germany. The events are held to protest the fact that Eutelsat, a French-based satellite company, switched off NTDTV television broadcast signals into China. Evidence suggests that Eutelstat did so in exchange for business favors with the Chinese Communist regime.

Eutelsat has a branch office situated in Cologne's 'Media Park'. As the name indicates, many media companies are located in the same area. One building encompasses two of Germany's mainstream television stations, ARD and ZDF, while a neighboring building holds other media offices. Most of the people that practitioners have met at this location are employees of these companies.

Many people have supported the petition against Eutelsat for shutting down NTDTV broadcasts to China. An increasing number of people tell practitioners that they have written or emailed Eutelsat, and passed on their concerns about the issue. One person said that he not only communicated his opinions to Eutelsat through email, but also sent the same message to more than 6,000 colleagues in his company, and requested that they pass it further to their acquaintances while expressing their concerns to Eutelsat.

A young lady who passed by while walking her dog every day said to practitioners that she is an independent professional who does much work over the computer with a large social network. Thereby she can let many people know about the Eutelsat issue. Beside this, she also told friends in France about the persecution of Falun Gong. She thanked the practitioners for letting her know what is happening, so she could take immediate action. Happy that she is able to lend some help, she hopes more people can do the same.

Some younger passersby said, "It's our responsibility to let more people know about this." A number of people asked which building Eutelsat was in, wanting to take immediate action

The manager of Media Park said he felt practitioners were doing the right thing. He offered his help if problems were to arise.

A postman who had already signed the petition earlier on, came back and told practitioners he had already voiced his protest to Eutelsat. Another expressed outrage that people were colluding with the Chinese Communist regime to profit at the expense of ethical and democratic principles.

Below are some comments written by supporters:

"When we [our politicians] kneel to the Chinese Communist regime, we have lost our own dignity, never mind talk of human rights. Human dignity is of the highest value, and kowtowing to the Chinese Communist regime really breaks the hearts of many people." "Not even daring to voice one's own opinion in the face of the Chinese Communist dictatorship--this is a disgrace of Western society."

"For such a long time these people [Falun Gong practitioners] have fought for others and asked for nothing in return. It seems there is still hope in the world. "