AsiaSat probes Falun Gong-related hijack of satellite transmissions

Asian Economic News, March 21, 2005

HONG KONG, March 15 Kyodo

Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co. said Tuesday it has launched an investigation into Monday's interruption of its satellite transmissions with signals carrying content related to the Falun Gong spiritual movement, banned in China.

The company said in a statement that six transponders on its AsiaSat 3S satellite were deliberately interrupted by illegal signals, repeatedly carrying Falun Gong-related content.

Kan Hung Cheung, spokesman of Falun Gong's Hong Kong chapter, told Kyodo News, ''I don't know what the content is about. I am not aware of any Falun Gong follower being related to the incident.''

Asia Satellite's spokeswoman Winnie Pang said the transmission caused a break in television programs in several provinces in China.

She said the hijack also interrupted transmissions intermittently for about one-and-a-half hours in other Asia-Pacific and Middle Eastern countries.

This is the second time transmissions by AsiaSat 3S have been hijacked by Falun Gong-related content. The previous investigation yielded no results.

''We still don't know what party and from where the attack originated,'' Pang said, adding that the probe has not ruled out the company's own staff.

Falun Gong was outlawed as a ''cult'' in China in July 1999.