A Hong Kong based satellite company accused in Hong Kong on Sunday the Falun Gong cult, that has been outlawed on the Chinese mainland, of hijacking its satellite and disrupting its normal signal sending.

At 200554 p.m. on Nov. 20 this year, malicious signals containing Falun Gong promotion contents intercepted the K7V transponder aboard the AsiaSat 3S satellite of the company. We were forced to shut it down at 201856 on Nov. 20 till 0035 on Nov. 21. said a statement released by the Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co. Ltd (AsiaSat).

As a result, the normal broadcast by the Beijing Municipal TV and the Tianjin Municipal TV, which chartered the transponder according to commercial contracts, were disrupted and had to be stopped, it said.

The act of attacking a civil satellite has seriously violated international pacts on telecommunications and internationally recognized norms. The normal satellite telecommunications order was broken, which brought great harm to our company's commercial benefit and reputation.

We strongly condemn the ill-intention signal interfering act and reserve the right to bring the illegal act to justice, said the company.

AsiaSat is a Hong Kong-based company that has listed in both Hong Kong and the United States.

(Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2004)