Law experts and scholars in major Chinese cities Thursday have denounced the TV hijacking by Falun Gong cult activists.

Television signals illegally broadcast by Falun Gong cult devotees since Sept. 8 have cut into transmissions using the Sino Satellite (SINOSAT) system that covers all the Chinese territories.

The Falun Gong's action has violated China's laws as well as international rules for the protection of the normal operation of civil satellites, said Wang Ming, senior judge from the Beijing Higher People's Court.

Since radio and TV broadcasting equipment are under the protection of Chinese criminal law and other regulations, any sabotage will be firmly punished, said Wang.

The TV hijacking has severely affected the "TV signals to every village" program of CCTV, the leading national television station in China, the transmission of signals from China Education TV Station (CETV) and of some provincial-level TV stations. People in some outlying rural and mountainous areas were unable to watch TV programs as usual.

Yan Li, professor of law with Shanghai University, called the Falun Gong's action an organized and deliberate crime and said that the involved activists must be punished.

The hijacking is a flagrant challenge to civil order and internationally recognized rules, said Shao Shaping, professor of law at Wuhan University.

(Xinhua News Agency September 26, 2002)