Unknown attackers are jamming the BBC’s World Service English radio broadcasts in China according to a statement released by the U.K. media company. The BBC believes a “well-resourced country such as China” might be behind the interference.

“The BBC strongly condemns this action, which is designed to disrupt audiences’ free access to news and information,” said the company in the statement.

We don’t know for how long the shortwave transmissions have been jammed, though it seems like an ongoing issue. Peter Horrocks, the director of BBC Global News explained that each attack is specifically targeted to shut down transmissions in China when the English radio programming is played. The BBC went on to say that it has had other troubles with jamming in Iran. Those, however, affect its Persian transmissions as opposed to its English ones.

Otherwise, the BBC says it hasn’t experienced this type of interference since the Cold War.

It has not been confirmed that those jamming the broadcasts are located in China or associated with the Chinese government, though the BBC seems to hint toward that conclusion.

Other publications such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have pointed their fingers at China in the last couple weeks. Both publications recently came forward saying Chinese hackers broke into their systems, in some cases to access the emails of China-based reporters.

hat tip The Guardian; Shortwave radio image via nate steiner/Flickr