China, in a purely retaliatory move, has officially banned the BBC World News Television from broadcasting in China days after Beijing’s primary international news channel lost its license in the U.K.
Many are seeing this as a punitive action by China, which on the one hand preaches to the world on the importance of freedom of speech and at the same time violently suppresses information in its own country. Last week, Britain’s media regulator Ofcom revoked the broadcasting license of Chinese English-language broadcaster China Global Television Network (CGTN).
The decision to cancel CGTN’s license in Britain was taken by Ofcom after it was determined that the network isn’t sufficiently “independent of the Chinese government control”.
In a statement released on Thursday (Feb 11), the National Radio and Television Administration of China said that an investigation had concluded that BBC’s reporting on China “seriously violated” Chinese media regulations.
According to the Chinese regulator, BBC had violated regulations requiring true and impartial reporting and that its China-related reports have undermined the country’s “national interests and ethnic solidarity.”
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called China’s decision “an unacceptable curtailing of media freedom” and said it would “only damage China’s reputation in the eyes of the world.”
The United States has condemned China’s decision to ban the BBC in that country. US State Department spokesperson Ned Price in a press conference said, “We absolutely condemn PRC’s decision to ban BBC World News. PRC maintains one of the most controlled, most oppressive, least free information spaces in the world. It’s troubling that PRC restricts outlets & platforms from operating freely in China”.
Price also accused China of taking advantage of free speech in the West, maliciously using free media outside China to promote misinformation.
The BBC said that it was disappointed by China’s ban, adding that it “reports on stories from around the world fairly, impartially and without fear or favor.”
BBC response to statement from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs pic.twitter.com/YO7l3ktTUY
— BBC News Press Team (@BBCNewsPR) February 4, 2021
Recently the BBC had made a startling revelation about the condition of Uyghur Muslims who are held in concentration camps in China and reported on the rampant abuse of men, women and children in the camps.
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