Beijing removes satellite TV to prevent Tibetans from listening to foreign programs

Local sources of Kanlho (Chinese: Gannan, in Gansu) indicate that for months now, teams of technicians are working to install cable lines for television and to remove the satellite dishes. Only government approved programs are broadcast on cable TV, while the satellite antennas make it possible to receive foreign programs such as RFA or Voice of America.

Faced with protests by residents, the television technicians respond that the order comes directly from the central authorities.

Tibetans have been speaking about the move on the internet, on the the blog “Invisible Tibet." They note that Beijing is still afraid of what is communicated by radio.

The people of Tibet protest that Beijing, after militarily invading the region in 1959, is now imposing a real cultural genocide, which affects the Buddhist faith, traditions and language of Tibet. Beijing violently and systematically represses any attempt at protest, even verbal, and punishes with imprisonment those who have pictures of the Dalai Lama. In March 2008 the Chinese army bloodily crushed the anti-Chinese protests which exploded in several areas of the region.