BBC says radio broadcasts being jammed in China

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.