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NEW
DELHI: After charges last year that its television signals
had been blocked, the British Broadcasting Corporation has
now said that radio broadcasts of BBC World Service in English
are being jammed in China.
"The
BBC has received reports that World Service English shortwave
frequencies are being jammed in China," the public service
broadcaster said, adding that it “strongly condemns this
action which is designed to disrupt audiences' free access
to news and information."
"Though
it is not possible at this stage to attribute the source of
the jamming definitively, the extensive and coordinated efforts
are indicative of a well-resourced country such as China,"
a statement issued in London said.
The
BBC said it had experienced jamming of satellite broadcasts
over the past two years, and that while shortwave jamming
was generally less frequent, it did also affect Persian-language
transmissions in Iran.
"The
jamming of shortwave transmissions is being timed to cause
maximum disruption to BBC World Service English broadcasts
in China," said BBC Global News Director Peter Horrocks.
"The
deliberate and coordinated efforts by authorities in countries
such as China and Iran illustrate the significance and importance
of the role the BBC undertakes to provide impartial and accurate
information to audiences around the world."
China,
which enforces strict restrictions on its domestic media,
has been accused by several prominent foreign media of seeking
to stop their news reports reaching Chinese audiences.
It
is not the first time the BBC had complained of disruption
to its services in China, where its website has been consistently
blocked. It accused the Chinese authorities of jamming its
BBC World News TV channel last year when it broadcast stories
regarded as sensitive, such as reports on dissident Chen Guangcheng,
who escaped from house arrest and sought refuge in the U.S.
embassy.
Other
foreign broadcasters including U.S. state-funded radio stations
Voice of America and Radio Free Asia have also complained
of Beijing blocking access to their programs.
The
New York Times reported on 30 January that Chinese hackers
had been attacking its computer systems while it was working
on an investigative report in October last year on the fortune
accumulated by relatives of outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao.
China
is listed at number 173 out of 179 countries on the World
Press Freedom Index compiled by campaign group Reporters Without
Border
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