News Release from the Epoch Times

The Malaysian National Security Bureau has halted distribution of the Epoch Times newspaper, confiscating issues of the paper on June 2 and then on June 17 issuing a ban on issues #147 and #148.

Bureau officers have criticized the paper for being against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but no official reason for the confiscation and ban has been given by Malaysian officials.

Since February 2004, the Epoch Times has been imported and distributed in Malaysia. National Security Bureau officials have been fully aware of the distribution of the Epoch Times, and repeatedly told newspaper representatives that no permit or license is required to do so.

Undoubtedly, the Malaysian Government has come under pressure from the CCP to take these actions.

Why? While The Epoch Times newspaper is produced in 8 languages and distributed in more than 28 countries around the world, the Chinese-language edition has become a powerful player in the Chinese-language market as the most widely distributed Chinese-language newspaper in the world. An independent newspaper, The Epoch Times reports the news free of influence from the Beijing Government, which has exerted an increasing amount of influence over Chinese-language media worldwide.

In fact, because of The Epoch Times’ independence, the CCP has always opposed it. Epoch Times’ staff arrested in China in December 2000 are still rotting in China’s prisons and labor camps today. And Epoch Times’ offices have documented harassment and interference with their businesses since the first issue was published in August 2000.

However, this campaign of harassment reached a new level of intensity following the publication in late November and early December of a book-length series of editorials, “Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party.” These editorials provide an uncensored history of the Chinese Communist Party. The “Nine Commentaries” discuss how the CCP’s campaigns have lead to 80 million unnatural deaths, how the CCP aims to rule China through a combination of terror, propaganda and information control, and how the CCP has attempted to eliminate all traditional morality and belief in China. (The “Nine Commentaries” in English: www.theepochtimes.com/jiuping.asp ).

In response to the “Nine Commentaries” nearly 2.7 million Chinese have renounced all ties with the CCP, with the number of renunciations or withdrawals increasing by over 20,000 per day every day.

Recently, the CCP has employed a variety of underhanded means in an attempt to stop the publication of the Epoch Times, from pressuring print shops in Hong Kong to not accept Epoch Times business to launching a worldwide calling campaign to vilify the newspaper. On June 20, 2005, shortly after the Epoch Times broke the story of senior Chinese officials seeking to defect in Australia, the Sydney Bureau office received a package in the mail filled with white powder that prompted authorities to evacuate the building and launch an investigation.

What is happening now in Malaysia is just an extension of this illicit campaign by the CCP to silence the Epoch Times. These actions are an affront to the fundamental principles of a free press, and it is regrettable to see China’s neighbors join the charade. We encourage those who seek to safeguard freedom of press around the world to deplore these actions, and hold governments accountable. Without a free press, we are all in the dark.

For more information, please contact: Stephen Gregory, 773-495-8169