APT Satellite Holdings Limited (APT Group) on Monday strongly condemned the acts of interference with its satellite operations.
The company said part of the transponders of APSTAR VI had been jammed maliciously by Falun Gong signals Sunday evening, resulting in the interference and interruption of normal broadcasting of CCTV and certain provincial satellite TV channels of the Chinese mainland.
Chen Zhaobin, executive director and president of APT Satellite Group, said at a press conference held on Monday afternoon that the APT Group is a company listed both in Hong Kong and New York. All its satellites are used in civil and commercial telecommunication purposes.
He said, We have been providing telecommunication and broadcasting services under commercial contracts to our customers in the Asia Pacific Region. The illegal jamming of APSTAR VI by Falun Gong, which has publicly stamped on the international telecommunication conventions and internationally accepted practices, is a challenge to the international community.
Chen said it had also seriously upset the normal telecommunication procedures and caused damage to APT Group and affected its reputation, adding in response to such malicious act of Falun Gong, we have reported the case to the police and the relevant authorities concerned of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and have requested the authorities concerned to seriously punish the criminals.
He said, We also appeal to the international community to strongly denounce such illegal act. We reserve all our rights to take appropriate legal actions.
The company said the illegal jamming involved 12 counts of intentional interference against eight C-band transponders of APSTAR VI within one hour from 844 PM Sunday, resulting in interference and interruption of normal broadcasting of 13 CCTV channels and 12 provincial TV channels from nine provinces (a total of 25 TV channels).
After taking immediate actions together with customers, all the interfered transponders and TV channels resumed normal operation. Such illegal jamming was stopped at 920 PM.
APSTAR VI is a high power satellite based on a SB-4100 C1 model supplied by Alcatel Space with 38 C-band transponders and 12 Ku- band transponders.
(Xinhua News Agency July 5, 2005)
