Maori TV says no pressure to show Chinese view
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Maori Television says it is under no pressure to screen an official Chinese view on the violent ethnic unrest that erupted in western China.
Xinjiang Urumqi July 5 Riot: Truth will be broadcast at 9.
It was given to Maori TV during a meeting the previous month when Chinese Embassy staff tried to get the documentary about Kadeer, entitled The 10 Conditions of Love, pulled.30pm today, immediately after a documentary about Uighur nationalist leader Rebiya Kadeer.
“I know that’s the way some people have interpreted it, but there was no pressure on us at all from the Chinese,” she said.
Maori TV sales and marketing general manager Sonya Haggie said today that embassy staff had made no demands that their DVD be aired. It was very much an internal decision.
“In fact, when they left the DVD, they didn’t even asked us to broadcast it.
While the channel’s refusal to bow to the embassy’s request not to show The 10 Conditions of Love has made news headlines, public reaction appears to have been low-key.”
Ms Haggie said what Maori TV wanted to do was to provide the public with both points of view.
Urumqi in Xinjiang province was the scene of deadly clashes between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese in July.
Ms Haggie said the network had received about 20-30 messages of support for its stance and about four against.
They also alleged that Kadeer was a terrorist with links to al Qaeda.
During their meeting with Maori TV, embassy staff said The 10 Conditions of Love incorrectly portrayed the Chinese Government’s treatment of the Uighur people.