A satellite company based in Hong
Kong has claimed that Falungong, outlawed on the Chinese mainland,
hijacked its satellite and disrupted normal service over the
weekend.
The accusation was made on Sunday
by Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co. Ltd (AsiaSat), a company
listed in both Hong Kong and the US
A statement released
by AsiaSat said that Falungong promotional broadcasts started to
make use of the K7V transponder aboard their 3S satellite at around
8:06 PM on Saturday. "We were forced to shut it down at 20:19 on
November 20 until 00:35 on November 21."
Beijing and Tianjin
Municipal TV broadcasts, which had chartered the transponder, were
interrupted, the statement said, and the act “brought great harm to
our company's commercial benefit and reputation.
"We strongly condemn
this deliberate interference and reserve the right to bring the
perpetrators to justice,” said the company.
(Xinhua News Agency
November 22, 2004)