Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co. Ltd. (AsiaSat) announced
in Hong Kong Tuesday that the transmissions of its satellite were
deliberately interrupted by illegal signals, reportedly carrying
content related to Falungong.
The company expressed its strong condemnation of the incident at
a press conference.?Falungong, an evil cult, was banned in
China.
Six C-band transponders on an AsiaSat 3S satellite were
interrupted by illegal transmissions carrying Falungong-related
content at 9:34 PM Monday, which caused a break in service of TV
programming on several provincial TV channels in Chinese mainland,
the company said in a statement.
This is the second incident to the company after a similar one
on November 20, last year, the statement said, accusing the
deliberate attack of seriously violating international
telecommunications treaties, contravening international regulations
and being in breach of the normal conduct of satellite
operations.
The company said it strongly condemns such behavior and reserves
the right to take the appropriate action under the law, adding that
the AsiaSat has initiated an inquiry and the findings will be
released in due course.?
AsiaSat is a wholly owned subsidiary of Asia Satellite
Telecommunications Holdings Ltd., whose major shareholders include
China's state-owned conglomerate CITIC Group.
(Xinhua News Agency March 16, 2005)