Ottawa, Canada - The Falun Dafa Association of Canada has vowed to keep fighting a decision by Canada's broadcast regulator to approve nine digital TV stations from mainland China.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission gave the go-ahead for the Chinese-language stations on Dec. 22.
The Falun Dafa Association, a group that represents the Falun Gong spiritual discipline, had vigorously opposed the applications before the CRTC because of coverage by China's CCTV-4, one of the stations, which it termed "abusive."
State-owned CCTV had aired negative news stories about the group in 1999 and 2001, during a large demonstration by Falun Gong practitioners in China.
While the CRTC agreed that CCTV coverage of the Falun Gong was abusive, it said it found no evidence "that the offending stories aired in 1999 and 2001 are typical of the content currently aired on CCTV-4."
The CRTC said it approved the nine channels as part of its policy that non-Canadian third-language television services should be approved to promote cross-cultural understanding.