China's banned Falun Gong spiritual movement has managed to make an uncut TV transmission to the northeast of the country. Viewers in Changchun city in the province of Jilin told Reuters news agency the broadcast went out on Tuesday evening on cable TV channels.

The programme, which condemned the state's crackdown on the movement, replaced state television for about 50 minutes.

"There was a brief blackout and then there was Li Hongzhi speaking," one viewer told Reuters, referring to the movement's US-based leader.

The broadcast accused the authorities of staging the self-immolation of two alleged Falun Gong members on Beijing's central Tiananmen Square last year.

Falun Gong's office in New York said it had broadcast two films on eight of the 32 TV channels broadcast to Changchun, starting at 2000 local time on Tuesday

It said the films, entitled "Immolation or deceit" and "Falun Gong spreads through the world", had the potential to reach 300,000 homes and an audience of more than one-million people.

Investigation

The French news agency AFP quoted a cable TV employee as saying the broadcast was being investigated.

An inquiry has been opened to find out who was responsible for this business Reuters quoted a city official in Changchun as saying a high-powered team of investigators had been dispatched from Beijing.

According to an unconfirmed report on Falun Gong's website, at least three people have been arrested in Changchun in connection with the broadcast.