(TibetanReview.net, Jun17’23) – China has clamped down on Tibetans in capital Lhasa who might have been watching non-state-approved television news channels, seeing it as endangering harmony and stability, reported the Tibetan Service of rfa.org Jun 14.
Chinese authorities began searching Tibetan homes in the city this month to determine whether residents were accessing foreign radio and TV programmes via satellite dishes, the report said, citing city police and two Tibetans with knowledge of the situation.
Broadcast offices in Tibet Autonomous Region, which roughly constitutes the western half of Tibet proper, teamed up with police to investigate every household over Jun 8-9 for illegal satellite broadcasts, the report said, citing an announcement on the website of the Lhasa police.
A total of 50 satellite dishes have been confiscated so far. The report did not say whether people were caught or will be punished for installing those illegal satellite dishes.
The Chinese government had provided each household in Lhasa in 2009 with a government-approved satellite dish, which limited residents’ access only to state-controlled programmes. Accessing or watching channels other than state-sanctioned programmes via satellite was declared illegal.
The clampdown on households was stated to have been preceded by searches carried out at hotels and guesthouses in Lhasa, another Tibetan refusing to be identified due to safety concerns, has said.
The report also said that though the satellite dishes installed by the Chinese government show only state-run programmes, foreign programmes could sometimes be picked up. “It’s up to the person’s maneuvering skills to do that and to not get caught,” the Tibetan source has added.