Reuters: China launches satellite clampdown after pirate broadcasts

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has launched a nationwide clampdown on satellite networks in the wake of a string of pirate broadcasts on state television by the banned Falun Gong spiritual [practice], state media said on Thursday.[..]

Although the report did not mention Falun Gong, the orders come roughly one week after the [practitioners used] a network in a city near Beijing and aired 70 minutes of [truth-clarifying programmes].[..]

Falun Gong's U.S.-based information centre said in a statement the group's adherents had [used] airwaves on August 23 and 27 in the Hebei province city of Baoding.

Television station officials and police in Baoding denied the incident had happened. "Such things could never have happened here," one television official said.

But a police official in neighbouring Xushui county, about 130 km south of Beijing, said that he had heard of the [..] broadcasts, that at least five Falun Gong followers had been arrested and that security had been heightened in the area.

HAPPENED ELSEWHERE

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But to the embarrassment of the government, Falun Gong members have tapped into cable channels in other Chinese cities several times, and from July 23-30 interrupted satellite transmissions, upping the technological ante in a cat-and-mouse game with the authorities.

With the party congress, at which a reshuffle of the top leadership is expected, just two months away, China is tightening its grip on media organisations to ensure the meeting goes off without a hitch.

A source at China Central Television told Reuters the state television network had tightened security to prevent similar [occurrences].

"Incidents like programmes being hijacked have happened mostly in remote areas. But there are fears that the same could happen on CCTV," the source said.

CCTV had installed steel gates at each of its two entrances to prevent vehicles from forcing their way through and had stepped up checks of people and vehicles entering the grounds, he said.

Falun Gong [practitioners] once staged mass demonstrations in China, but a government ban and effective crackdown have led to dwindling protests and more creative ways of spreading their message.

Falun Gong says as many as 1,600 followers have been killed in a crackdown since the movement was outlawed in 1999 after thousands of adherents shocked authorities by surrounding the leadership compound in Beijing [seeking to be able to practice peacefully without harassment].