China set the cat among the Tokyo pigeons by launching the Apstar-1 entertainment satellite last week: an official of Japan’s Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications said that Peking had violated global rules and threatened to take countermeasures – transmissions from the Apstar-1 will interfere with an existing Japanese communications satellite, he said: We’ll immediately take appropriate measures if China switches on the satellite’s transponders and causes transmission interference with our bird.
