Broadcast jammers in the People's Republic of China

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Broadcast jammers in the People's Republic of China is a form of censorship in the People's Republic of China that involves deliberate attempts by state or communist party organs to interfere with radio broadcasts. In most cases, broadcast jammers , also known as jammer or noise jamming, target foreign broadcasters, including Voice of America (VOA) , Radio Free Asia (RFA) , Voice of Tibet (VOT) , the BBC World Service and based stations in Taiwan.

Methods

The jamming of radio stations is achieved by sending radio signals on the same frequency as that of the intended target. The government of the People's Republic of China interferes with shortwave radio communications by this method, usually by broadcasting music, drums, or other noises. On shortwave, the sound consists of Chinese folk music, namely a composition known as The Firedrake , which lasts about an hour. The 60-minute audio clip is transmitted as a mono audio signal via Chinasat 6B to the shortwave jammers stationed on one of China's islands in the southern province of Hainan . The signal from The Firedrake is transmitted as a so-called audio feed for delivery on the right audio channel from the CNR 8 program to Chinasat 6B, the left audio channel is used as a mono audio channel for regular Chinese radio programs. There are high-quality recordings of The Firedrake on the Internet which were recorded in Australia directly from the satellite transmission via Chinasat 6B and which exactly coincide with the shortwave interference.

The French defense company Thales Group was accused of supporting Chinese censorship efforts by selling shortwave transmission equipment to Chinese authorities. The company pointed out that the sale of systems was intended for civil purposes and that the systems were identical to those installed in numerous other countries.

aims

Since Radio Free Asia began broadcasting to China in 1996, the Chinese authorities have consistently disrupted its transmission and tried to dissuade other Asian countries from allowing broadcasting stations. In 2002, the US Government Broadcasting Board reported that "virtually all VOAs and RFAs shortwave radio transmissions to China [...] have stopped", including their Mandarin, Cantonese, Tibetan and Uyghur language services. The statement to the Executive Commission of Congress said that they were facing serious problems in fulfilling their mandate in China because Beijing was working hard to prevent Chinese people from getting the news they were reporting. For example, in Lhasa , the capital of Tibet , it is impossible to get a good signal for Voice of America Tibet , even though the system broadcasts on three or five frequencies depending on the time of day.

In 2008, the Oslo-based Voice of Tibet reported that interference to their radio communications was compounded during the 2008 Tibetan riot as authorities increased the number of interfered signals they used to offload outside broadcasts.

Other targets of the jammers are the BBC World Service and the Sound of Hope broadcast network . SWLing Post has published some articles on its website about jammers from China and affected destinations.

Reactions

In 2011, some international radio stations, including the BBC and VOA, announced plans to reduce or close their Mandarin shortwave service to China because of spending cuts and frustrations caused by disruptions. BBC closed its Mandarin channel in March 2011 after nearly 70 years of broadcasting. Instead, the BBC and VOA chose to invest more in Internet radio; both received financial support from the United States Department of State to promote and develop Internet censorship circumvention software, such as Freegate and Ultrasurf , so that their Chinese listeners can access the programs online.

The broadcasters have also tried to teach their listeners how to use anti-jamming technology.

Affected frequencies

HFU HF Underground, a forum for shortwave pirate stations, has a list of the frequencies affected by jamming in kHz on its website. In 2017 z. B. these were 6080, 7210, 9350, 9355, 9370, 9745, 9780, 9965, 11540, 11560, 11670, 13830, 15250.

Music used

Feng Shou Luo Gu (Drum & Gong for Harvest), harvest festival music orchestrated with the Chinese flute, gong, erhu and drums. Duration: approx. One hour (repeated often).

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Voice of Tibet says China 'jamming' quake condolences. In: norskpen.no. Norwegian PEN, April 22, 2010, accessed August 21, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Fighting the Chinese Government Fire Dragon - Music Jammer. DARC, accessed September 11, 2017 .
  3. ↑ a b Firedrake jamming frequencies. In: hfunderground.com. HFU HF Underground, accessed on August 22, 2017 (English).
  4. ↑ Firedrake - The source of China's Radio Jammer found on Chinasat 6B. satdirectory.com, accessed August 22, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Reuters Staff: Thales denies selling radio jamming kit to China. In: reuters.com. REUTERS, March 31, 2008, accessed on August 21, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Jim Mann: China Bars 3 Journalists From Clinton's Trip. In: latimes.com. Los Angeles Times, June 23, 1998, accessed August 21, 2017 .
  7. ^ Statement of the Broadcasting Board of Governors before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. In: bbg.gov. Broadcasting Board of Governors, December 9, 2002, accessed August 22, 2017 .
  8. ↑ A series of articles on radio jamming emanating from China. swling.com, accessed August 22, 2017 .
  9. ^ Vivien Marsh: BBC Chinese Service makes final broadcast in Mandarin. In: bbc.com. BBC News, March 28, 2011, accessed August 22, 2017 .
  10. ↑ Jerome Socolovsky: Critics Attack VOA Decision to Cut Radio Broadcasts to China. In: voanews.com. Voice of America, May 24, 2011, accessed August 22, 2017 .
  11. ↑ By Neal Ungerleider: US State Department to Pay BBC's Anti-Jamming Campaign in China, Iran. In: fastcompany.com. FAST COMPANY, March 21, 2011, accessed August 22, 2017 .
  12. ^ Anne Applebaum: Why has the State Department run into a firewall on Internet freedom? In: washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post, April 4, 2011, accessed August 22, 2017 .
  13. ^ Anti-Jamming Antenna. In: rfa.org. Radio Free Asia, accessed August 22, 2017 .