TAIPEI, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Taiwan urged China on Friday to resume stalled dialogue to avoid "miscalculation" over Chinese accusations of satellite interference by Falun Gong followers based in Taiwan.
The Taiwan cabinet's Mainland Affairs Council denied an assertion by its Chinese counterpart that Beijing had informed Taipei about Falun Gong followers hacking into Chinese state satellite television signals from the island three months ago.
The council urged China to seek Taiwan's assistance through a resumption of dialogue between Taipei's semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation and its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait.
"Truly, abandoning this short cut is not a wise move," the council said in a statement. It made no mention of Falun Gong.
Beijing angrily suspended dialogue with Taipei in July 1999 after then Taiwan president Lee Teng-hui redefined bilateral ties as "special state to state".
China considers Taiwan a breakaway province, not an independent state, and has vowed to attack the democratic island of 23 million if it formally declares independence.
Beijing said on Tuesday followers of Falun Gong, legal in Taiwan but banned by China in 1999, hijacked Chinese television broadcasts via the state-run SINOSAT satellite twice this month.
China has demanded that Taiwan stop the interference, warning that bilateral ties could suffer. But a Taiwan telecommunications official has dismissed the accusation as "far-fetched".
The council, which formulates policy towards China, urged Beijing to provide the island with accurate information about the accusations "to avoid miscalculation and misunderstanding".
It said Taiwan telecommunications authorities had investigated China's claims, but found nothing illegal.
In a twist, the council accused China of disrupting signals of seven private Taiwan radio stations since last year.
Taiwan and Beijing have been diplomatic and military rivals since they split at the end of a civil war in 1949, but their economies have becoming increasingly intertwined and civilian exchanges have boomed in the past decade.
China banned Falun Gong after 10,000 practitioners besieged Beijing's leadership compound to demand recognition of their faith. The group practises a mixture of Taoism, Buddhism, traditional Chinese exercises and its U.S.-based founder's ideas.
Falun Gong supporters have interfered with media broadcasts in China several times in recent months to air videos of their founder and adherents practising.
Last week, 15 group members were jailed in China for hacking into cable television networks this year.
Taiwan's Bureau of Investigation, responsible for counter-intelligence, sacked one of its agents this month for sending bureau reports on Falun Gong to China via the Internet.
The agent also faces charges of leaking state secrets.