The provincial Broadcasting Commission (KPID) and the Batam Frequency Monitoring Agency will close private radio station Era Baru for criticizing the Chinese government, an official said Wednesday.

KPID chairman Parlindungan Sihombing said Era Baru was one of three stations that did not have a broadcast permit as their programs had the potential to disrupt bilateral relations between Indonesia and China.

According to monitoring by the commission, Era Baru, which broadcasts 90 percent of its programs in Chinese and the rest in Indonesian, aired programs campaigning for a "radical" religious sect.

Gatot, chairman of the Riau Islands Falun Gong group and a shareholder of Era Baru, criticized the plan to close the station.

He argued that the station only aired news on things that occurred in China, saying freedom to deliver information is guaranteed by the 1999 Press Law.

He denied that Era Baru had a connection with Falun Gong, saying he had established the station because he was interested in broadcasting.

Original text from: http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=99865

(The Jakarta Post, Thursday, October 30, 2008)