New Tang Dynasty

Overview

New Tang Dynasty Television (NTD) is a New York-based multilingual television broadcaster founded by Falun Gong practitioners that began satellite broadcasts in February 2002 (U.S. State Department cable). NPR describes it as the sister organization of The Epoch Times, and it is operated by the nonprofit Universal Communications Network (NPR). A 2006 U.S. State Department cable characterizes it as an independent, nonprofit station airing news, cultural, leisure, and political programs in Mandarin (U.S. State Department cable).

NTD describes itself as founded in 2001 by Chinese Americans seeking an alternative to Chinese state media (National Writers Union). The cable records its February 2002 launch by five Falun Gong practitioners and its July 1, 2003 global expansion to a 24-hour satellite channel reaching North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia (U.S. State Department cable). The same cable cautions that these outlets “should not be viewed as synonymous with” the Falun Gong movement: they are separate entities, even though funding flows between them (U.S. State Department cable).

History and growth

After its 2003 global launch, NTD built a network of studios in New York and some 60 reporting centers worldwide, whose reporters operated with substantial editorial independence (U.S. State Department cable). Its programming mixed Mandarin-language news with select Cantonese and English offerings, with a stated mission of carrying uncensored news about China and promoting traditional Chinese culture (U.S. State Department cable; National Writers Union). NTD says its broadcasts into China made it, in its own description, the largest Chinese-language media outlet outside mainland China (National Writers Union).

Beijing’s response came early. By 2004, NTD was already having difficulty renewing satellite contracts after Beijing began pressuring satellite companies to drop its programming (U.S. State Department cable). In 2017, NTD journalist Lixin Yang was denied accreditation to cover the UN General Assembly on the grounds that accreditation is not granted to “advocacy publications,” a decision NTD attributed to Chinese government influence (National Writers Union).

A 2006 cable’s inside view: volunteers, satellites, and fungible funding

The most detailed independent portrait of NTD’s operations comes from a 2006 U.S. State Department cable written after interviews with Falun Gong–affiliated media figures in Hong Kong and Australia (U.S. State Department cable). It describes a strikingly lean operation: NTD relied almost exclusively on part-time volunteers, with no paid staff at all in its New York offices, and the overwhelming majority of those volunteers were Falun Gong practitioners (U.S. State Department cable). Funding came almost entirely from donations by wealthy Falun Gong practitioners, according to NTDTV Australia president Cheuk Yuen-wong (U.S. State Department cable).

The cable put numbers on the satellite economics: NTD used four satellites — Telstar (North America), Hotbird (Europe), New Sky Satellite 6 (Australia), and W5 (Asia) — at roughly $400,000 per satellite per year, making transmission the bulk of its costs (U.S. State Department cable). It also captured a financial pattern that resurfaced in 2024 tax filings: NTD and The Epoch Times presented themselves as separate businesses, but funding flowed between them according to need, linked “at the very top where the funding is provided, in the minds of wealthy donors” (U.S. State Department cable).

The 2008 Eutelsat shutdown

On June 16, 2008, the French satellite operator Eutelsat cut NTDTV’s signal to Asia over its W5 satellite, attributing the interruption to a technical problem (Reporters Without Borders). Reporters Without Borders then published a recorded June 23 conversation in which a Eutelsat Beijing employee told someone he believed was a Chinese propaganda official that the shutdown was ordered by the company’s CEO after repeated complaints from the Chinese government — calling it a premeditated, politically motivated decision that violated the free flow of information (Reporters Without Borders). The press-freedom group noted that Eutelsat had tried to drop NTDTV once before, in 2005, but an international campaign forced it to sign a new long-term contract (Reporters Without Borders).

In August, EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding wrote to Eutelsat asking what had happened, as NTDTV staff protested in New York and European capitals (AFP). Eutelsat maintained the technical explanation and denied prejudice against the station; NTDTV’s Jenny Fang countered that the technical claim was invalid because satellite space was available, arguing Eutelsat had “succumbed to pressure” in pursuit of Chinese government contracts (AFP).

Nonprofit finances under scrutiny (2024)

In June 2024, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York indicted Weidong “Bill” Guan — chief financial officer of the Epoch media operation — accusing him of laundering at least $67 million in illicit proceeds through accounts belonging to the media organization and affiliated entities (NPR). NPR’s review of tax returns for three related nonprofits — Epoch Times Association, Epoch Public Foundation, and Universal Communications Network, which operates New Tang Dynasty Television — found large, inconsistently reported cash movements among them (NPR). Nonprofit accounting experts called the filings “a hot mess,” “fishy,” and “baffling” (NPR).

Ten days after the indictment, Accountable.US filed an IRS complaint against Epoch Public Foundation and The Epoch Times Association, alleging false or fraudulent information on their 2020 and 2021 Forms 990 (Accountable.US complaint). The complaint states that the foundation’s mission is accomplished “primarily by supporting the production and promotion of two media organizations: ETA and New Tang Dynasty (‘NTD’),” and that at fiscal year 2021’s end the foundation reported owing “related organizations NTD and ETA” a combined $20,586,627 — a figure that, added to its starting assets, exactly equaled its reported ending assets, which the complaint flags as unexplained (Accountable.US complaint).

	New Tang Dynasty Television	The Epoch Times
Medium	Television broadcaster (satellite, cable, digital)	Newspaper and digital media
Launch	2001 (founded); satellite broadcasts from Feb 2002 (cable)	Founded 2000 by John Tang (NPR)
Operator	Universal Communications Network (nonprofit) (NPR)	The Epoch Times Association, Inc. (nonprofit) (complaint)
Stated relationship	NPR calls NTD The Epoch Times’ sister organization (NPR)	Same NPR framing, from the other direction
Nonprofit link	Listed as a “related organization” owed money by Epoch Public Foundation; EPF’s mission includes supporting NTD (complaint)	ETA reported a $4.68M grant to EPF in FY2021 (complaint)
Founding milieu	Launched by five Falun Gong practitioners (cable)	Founded by Chinese dissidents associated with Falun Gong (NPR)

Frequently asked questions

What is New Tang Dynasty Television? NTD is a New York-based multilingual television broadcaster that began satellite broadcasts in February 2002 and was launched by Falun Gong practitioners, according to a 2006 U.S. State Department cable. It airs news, cultural, leisure, and political programs mainly in Mandarin Chinese, with some Cantonese and English content. NPR describes it as The Epoch Times’ sister organization. (cable; NPR)

Who founded NTD? NTD’s own account says it was founded in 2001 by Chinese Americans seeking uncensored news about China. A 2006 U.S. State Department cable says it was launched in February 2002 by five Falun Gong practitioners. The cable distinguishes the media outlets from the movement, noting they should not be viewed as synonymous with Falun Gong. (NWU; cable)

Is NTD owned by The Epoch Times or the Epoch Media Group? No ownership relationship has been verified by the sources reviewed. NPR describes NTD Television as The Epoch Times’ “sister organization,” and reports that the nonprofit Universal Communications Network operates NTD. A 2024 IRS complaint describes NTD as a “related organization” of the Epoch nonprofits. Beyond these precise characterizations, no control structure is asserted. (NPR; complaint)

Why was NTD taken off the Eutelsat satellite in 2008? On June 16, 2008, Eutelsat suspended NTDTV’s Asia transmissions over its W5 satellite, citing a technical problem. Reporters Without Borders published a recorded conversation with a Eutelsat employee indicating the CEO had ordered the shutdown after repeated Chinese government complaints. The European Commission later asked Eutelsat for an explanation; the operator maintained its technical account. (RSF; AFP)

Is NTD a nonprofit? NTD is operated by Universal Communications Network, a nonprofit whose tax filings NPR reviewed as part of its 2024 investigation into the Epoch nonprofit network. The U.S. State Department’s 2006 cable independently described NTD as a nonprofit television station. The station’s international arms, such as NTDTV Australia, were separately registered as nonprofit entities. (NPR; cable)

What this profile does not claim

• It does not assert any ownership or control relationship between NTD Television, Universal Communications Network, The Epoch Times, or any “Epoch Media Group” entity beyond what NPR and the Accountable.US complaint state — those characterizations are “sister organization,” “operated by,” and “related organization,” and nothing stronger is sourced.
• NTD’s self-reported scale figures (a 230-million-plus global audience, top-10 digital news property status, 2017 comScore comparisons) are repeated only as NTD’s own claims; they were not independently verified.
• The names Zhong Lee/Li Zhong (NTD’s New York president per the cable), John Tang (NTD CEO per the 2017 release), and Zhong Tang/John Zhong Tang (Epoch Public Foundation president and former Epoch Times Association CEO per the complaint and NPR) are reported as each source renders them; the profile does not merge them into a single identity.
• The profile takes no position on whether the IRS acted on the June 2024 complaint, and treats the complaint’s figures as allegations by the complainant drawn from the cited Form 990 filings, not as adjudicated findings.