By Deborah Kuo
A government spokesman categorically denied Wednesday an accusation by Beijing that Falun Gong members overrode mainland television signals by directing a satellite beam that originated in Taipei.
Chuang Shuo-han, a spokesman for the Executive Yuan, said that after an investigation, the Directorate-General of Telecommunications (DGT) found no evidence to indicate that any hack or irregular signal had been transmitted from Taiwan to the mainland to override TV signals there.
The mainland Chinese State Council claimed earlier in the day that the Falun Gong movement -- which is banned in the mainland and whose members face persecution, imprisonment and torture by the authorities there -- had been [broadcasting] mainland Chinese official TV signals by firing a "strong and precisely tuned beam" from Taiwan. […] Discounting Beijing's accusations, Chuang pointed out that Taiwan official Web sites have been hacked by mainland hackers many times, while Taiwan's Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC) has also had its overseas broadcasts interfered with.
All of these incidents helped highlight the imperative of shelving political disputes on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and resuming cross-strait dialogue as soon as possible, Chuang noted. Noting that besides BCC, 216 Web sites of 42 public offices in Taiwan were hacked by mainland hackers between November 2001 and July 2002, Chuang called for Beijing to resume cross-strait dialogue so that the authorities from both sides can jointly crack down on crime and deal with issues of mutual concern.
Meanwhile, he went on, religious freedom has long been observed and respected in [Taiwan] and the government will not intervene in non-illicit Falun Gong activities.
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