Chinese government officials in Beijing and Africa declined to comment when asked for their reaction to these accusations. When asked to comment, a Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing said he did not understand the question.

ESAT, with studios in Amsterdam, Washington, D.C., and London, was set up last year by a group of exiled Ethiopian journalists and pro-democracy activists to create an alternative media outlet for the people of Ethiopia.

Over the past year, ESAT has been forced to change satellite service providers at least four times. ESAT started broadcasting to Ethiopia on Arabsat, headquartered in Saudi Arabia, but was forced off the air due to intense signal interference and diplomatic pressure by the Ethiopian government.

"We have difficulties accessing local websites based in Ethiopia or outside the country, which cover sensitive matters about the Ethiopian government," wrote Eden Habtamu, a journalist who works for New Business Ethiopia, in an e-mail exchange June 28.

In the wake of popular uprisings taking place in other African countries and the Middle East, the Ethiopian government has cracked down on freedom of expression, exiling and imprisoning journalists and pro-democracy advocates. The EFJA's Mulat is among those who have been exiled.