Falun Gong's on TV

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.sundaytimes.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,4600356%255E401,00.html

By Catherine Armitage in China
29 June 02

MILLIONS of Chinese television viewers got a shock this week when
Falun Gong propaganda was beamed into their living rooms as members of
the banned sect hijacked one of China's main television satellites.

And in Beijing, surprised residents answered their phones this month
to find a recorded Falun Gong message, up to five minutes long,
attacking the Government's anti-Falun Gong claims point by point.  
The hacking incidents highlight Falun Gong's sophistication and
audacity as the group attempts to fight back in China and overseas.

The satellite broadcast, in which a banner reading "Falun Gong is
good" replaced normal TV viewing in Shandong province on Sunday night
and again in prime time on Tuesday, is among the group's most daring
moves since it was banned in 1999.

Chinese security sources told The South China Morning Post that most
of China Central Television's 10 channels, and another 10 provincial
channels sharing the Sinosat-1 satellite, were interrupted on Sunday
night.

The Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, based in Hong
Kong, said the Falun Gong banner appeared on TV screens in Yantai
city, Shandong and Laiyang county twice last week, in some cases for
up to 15 minutes. The centre said it had confirmed the incidents with
local security authorities and television stations.

A spokesman for the Yantai security office in charge of dealing with
Falun Gong said it had received complaints from the public. "They said
a blurred image appeared on their screens for between 10 and 20
seconds," an official said.

A news blackout was enforced on the mainland and security officials
and TV stations denied all knowledge of the incidents yesterday.

Hong Kong media said Vice-President Li Lanqing, responsible for the
mainland media, had ordered an investigation into the hacking. After
the Falun Gong broadcast, millions of TV sets in remote and rural
areas went black as the authorities tried to trace the source of the
interruption.

Officials are reportedly perplexed as to how Falun Gong had the
knowledge and equipment needed to intercept a satellite broadcast.  
There was speculation sect followers had equipped a vehicle to avoid
notice.

The human rights and democracy centre said an antenna with a diameter
of 3m could disrupt reception for hundreds of kilometres.

Similar incidents occurred in January in Chonqing, Sichuan province,
in March in Jilin province where Falun Gong leader Li Hongzhi was born
and in Harbin in April. In these cases the targets were cable TV
stations. More than 20 Falun Gong members were arrested over the March
hacking and face up to 15 years in jail if convicted.

Falun Gong's recorded telephone message -- sent to an unknown number
of Beijing residents, and probably further -- claimed the Government
had fabricated the incident in which three Falun Gong supporters set
themselves alight in Tiananmen Square in January 2001.

The recording also said sect followers were beaten and tortured in
prison, and invited listeners to follow prompts to hear more
information or Falun Gong songs.



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