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)