China's pirate radio stations threaten passenger jet safety: Xinhua
Lack of regulations covering industry allow individuals to start broadcasting, but airline personnel say communications are being disrupted
PUBLISHED : Monday, 25 August, 2014, 1:04pm
UPDATED : Monday, 25 August, 2014, 4:37pm
Adrian Wan [email protected]
A pilot for Okay Airways complained to authorities in Tianjin of radio interference from a pirate transmitter. Photo: EPA
A plethora of pirate radio stations uncovered by China's authorities in a number of provinces could disrupt communications between passenger jet pilots and air traffic control, a report by Xinhua warned today.
A lack of regulations governing the sale and use of pirate radio transmitters have made the devices easily accessible on the market, unidentified legal experts told the news agency, adding that they risked putting passengers' lives at risk.
The authorities said they had found many high-power private radio systems in Beijing and Tianjin municipalities and Hainan, Yunnan and Guangdong provinces.
The agency did not say how many were found. Calls seeking comment were not returned.
Okay Airways, based in the suburbs of Beijing, reportedly complained to the radio administration in Tianjin in March that its radio frequency was severely disturbed by a pirate radio station.
Jiang Tao, a pilot with the airline, said the inflight navigation system and communications with control towers were often disturbed by pirate radio broadcasts.
If the radio frequency was occupied when aircrafts had to take off or land, the pilots could lose contact with the control tower, threatening safety, the report said, quoting unnamed industry experts.
The Beijing Radio Administration Bureau has recently uncovered a pirate radio station operating atop a residential building in Chaoyang district. The station transmitted its own content – in this case, advertisements – on a frequency usually used by licensed stations, it said.
The pirate stations seek to sell advertisements for escort agencies, medical products or services, Xinhua said.
The bureau had recently seized a 2,000-watt transmitter whose signal can reach most places in the capital, the report said, citing Liu Xiaoming, head of the bureau’s operations.
Other high-power equipment was found in neighbouring Tianjin municipality, the report said, without saying when.
Such pirate systems were easily available to anybody searching on online marketplace Taobao, with the total price going for less than 50,000 yuan (HK$62,900), the report said.
A Tianjin-based lawyer said regulations on the mainland have failed to control the sale and use of unapproved radio systems. If their systems were seized, the operators could go scot-free and reopen another station.
The legal experts in Xinhua’s report said laws should be amended to protect key radio frequencies, especially those used for special purposes.
