& e- b2 ]# R }New Chinese Crackdown Targets Illegal Satellite Broadcasts , Z, N& v a4 d$ v& l( G# u ! r: b4 i; X T" @' r7 q& FBEIJING (AP)--China is targeting illegal foreign satellite television broadcasts into the country, with one report saying the crackdown included Hong Kong's Phoenix Satellite news channel, long a favorite of the country's urban middle class.! M# n* W/ d1 X* d4 H* E7 W4 M/ l; L
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The government regulator State Administration of Radio, Film and Television last month ordered local authorities to clamp down on cable television providers that included the targeted channels in their service. ; s8 |$ g ^) W. u9 L1 I. b B9 d
Summaries of the administration's order said it was aimed at strengthening regulation, maintaining government information controls, and "blocking the intellectual and cultural infiltration of enemy forces."& S& `# `, k5 c1 d
$ q7 a: A# |( l8 n! w2 p& jPenalties were not stipulated, although the report said violators would have to reapply for the right to receive all satellite broadcasts. ( F! \" A: ]' L+ N , F3 v/ ?& t( c( U9 eThe highest profile victim of the crackdown could be Phoenix, which is received in millions of homes across Chinese despite being formally restricted to tourist hotels and compounds where foreigners work and live.% C/ n: _- x1 {4 L' c. H
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Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper said the crackdown was intended to both silence voices other than official media and protect the commercial and content monopolies of local stations that have lost viewers to channels such as Phoenix." k: r( r' b$ y3 t m
: g3 F o1 c0 n7 A5 g"Phoenix TV is the biggest victim of all the overseas channels affected this time and we have so far lost at least 4 million clients" in a single province, the paper quoted an unidentified senior Phoenix executive as saying.' z4 U, N: W# |4 v) f: s
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Calls to Phoenix's offices in China rang unanswered on Saturday. * w$ K" J" v7 H1 ` % Z G) U9 j# z* R% }0 fThe decade-old Hong Kong-listed joint venture with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NWS) offers a wider range of news and views, although it largely hews to the official Chinese government standpoint and avoids sensitive political and social issues.
