The Chinese communist regime has replaced 170 satellite dishes in a Tibetan region of southern Gansu Province, according to Radio Free Asia.

Residents no longer have Internet access, and can only watch TV programming from the state-run China Central Television (CCTV).

The Communist authorities claim secret agents from the Tibet independence movement installed the original satellite dishes, and therefore they had to confiscate all of them and reinstall so-called "official" ones.

The 170 receivers in Maqu County, Gansu Province were replaced between April 10th and April 23rd.

A member of the Tibetan Congress in Dharamsala says authorities began in March to switch out the receivers installed by Tibetans in Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan and Gansu Provinces, and the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

Watching TV news from India, or even listening to overseas news on Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, is no longer possible after authorities installed the new dishes.