Tehran Times
October 15

The BBC said Tuesday that the Chinese government was blocking its short-wave radio broadcasts in the Uzbek language, affecting access by listeners in parts of Uzbekistan.

Tests by the British National Broadcaster to world service broadcasts on three separate shortwave frequencies confirmed reports that the service was being jammed, the BBC said in a statement.

"The jamming, which began on September 1, consists of a strong radio signal from a Chinese speech station on the three frequencies used by the BBC during broadcast," it said.

The corporation said the Uzbek language could be understood by the Uighur Muslim Community in China's westernmost region of Xinjiang, raising the possibility that this could be the reason for the Chinese action.

Although broadcasts on FM and medium wave bands were available to listeners around the Uzbek capital of Tashkent, those elsewhere in the country were unable to pick up the six hours of Uzbek language broadcasts weekly, AFP reported.

Around 500,000 people in Uzbekistan listen to the programs every week, the BBC said, adding that the language was also spoken by about 1.5 million people in northern Afghanistan.

The head of the BBC world service, which broadcasts in 43 languages worldwide, said the organization had protested to China.

"We are concerned at the actions of the Chinese authorities who are preventing citizens of another country from hearing Uzbek broadcasts, especially at a time when the thirst for international news and information is increasing," said Mark Byford.

A series of human rights groups have accused China of serious abuses in Xinjiang, which is only around 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Uzbekistan at its nearest point, separated by Kyrgyzstan.

Beijing, in turn, says it faces a "terrorist" campaign by separatists with alleged links to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network.

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