China Friday condemned the Falun Gong cult for hijacking again the satellite signals of government-run Sino Satellite, which violated the basic principles of relevant civilian communications.

The TV satellite, belonging to the Sino-Satellite Communications Co., Ltd., was taken over by illegal TV signals transmitted by Falun Gong cult followers twice, once at 9:05 p.m. Tuesday and once at 8:23 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Information Industry.

The illegal signals hindered the Chinese audience from watching routine programs of China Central Television, China Education TV Station and 10 provincial TV stations.

"Falun Gong's law-breaking activity is information terrorism and banditry in the high-tech era," said a company executive. "It infringes on the rights and interests of our company, and its reputation as well. We retain the right to investigate the legal responsibility of the cult."

A senior official of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, said the TV hijacking once again indicates the cult's goal to cause damage to the country and the people.

Those who back up and connive with the banned cult should be held responsible for the illegal act and will eventually eat their own bitter fruits, the official said.

The public who were disrupted from receiving the country's radio and television programs, also angrily condemned the Falun Gong cult's evil act. They urged the cult be severely punished to safeguard the interests of the people.

This week's hijackings were not the first time Falun Gong cult activists had broadcast illegal TV signals to cut into transmission using Sino Satellite.

The satellite was taken over on Sept. 21 last year, during the Middle Autumn Festival when people should have been enjoying entertainment programs on TV with their families.

Their attacks in late June last year also disrupted people in many remote villages in China from being able to watch the World Cup finals.

Sino Satellite, launched in 1998, serves dozens of clients including those of prime importance to the daily lives of Chinese, such as the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, the Chinese Offshore Petrol Corporation, the National Meteorological Bureau and China Unicom.

Through this satellite, TV programs are able to reach rural residents in remote villages in most land-locked areas in the country, and China Education TV Station broadcasts education programs to students nationwide.

(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2003)