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The State Administration of Radio and Television of China announced at 0:00 on Thursday (February 12) that it would not allow the BBC World News Station to continue landing in China, and would not accept its request for landing in the new year. . China criticizes the BBC’s reports on the new coronavirus outbreak and the persecution of Uighurs in Xinjiang.
Hong Kong is also affected. Local public broadcaster Radio Hong Kong (RTHK) immediately announced that it will stop broadcasting the international channel BBC and the Cantonese program BBC Current Affairs for one week starting at 11pm on Friday (February 12).
The BBC expressed “disappointment” at China’s decision.
“We are disappointed by the decision of the Chinese authorities to take this action. The BBC is the world’s most trusted international news broadcaster. The stories interviewed around the world are fair, impartial, fearless and biased,” said the BBC in the statement.
The commercially operated BBC World News television station broadcasts in English throughout the world. It is banned in most of China. Most Chinese citizens cannot see it. Only a few hotels and international diplomatic agencies offer relevant channels.
British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab (Lan Taowen) called China’s decision an “unacceptable deprivation of freedom of the press.”
Earlier this month, the British Communications Authority (Ofcom) revoked the license of the China International Television Station (CGTN), prompting a strong reaction from China. The British Communications Authority stated that the licensed Star China Media Limited (Star China Media Limited) has no editorial responsibility for CGTN, but the British Broadcasting Act stipulates that licensees must have control over their publishing services and policies.
CGTN was also accused of violating British broadcasting regulations by broadcasting a video of British private detective Peter Humphrey being forced to plead guilty.
China claimed that the BBC report was “unfounded” and that Xinjiang “does not have so-called systematic sexual abuse and assault against women.” The UK urged Beijing to allow independent investigation groups to freely enter and leave Xinjiang.
In response to Beijing’s latest move, the US State Department condemned it and declared that it was a new move by China to suppress press freedom.
China and Great Britain have recently caused a serious deterioration in their relations over the Hong Kong issue. Beijing implemented the controversial national security law in Hong Kong last year to suppress the democratic movement.
In January this year, the UK provided new visa treatments for people with British Overseas Nationality (BNO) status and their immediate family members on the basis of China’s crackdown on human rights and freedoms in the city, easing its immigration regulations, and 5.4 million Hong Kong residents were eligible.
Over the past two years, China has consistently banned foreign media, including expelling journalists from three US newspapers in 2020. The BBC’s website and app have long been banned in the country.
Citing several Uyghur women, the BBC reported earlier this month that rape, sexual assault and systematic abuse took place in Xinjiang’s “re-education camps”. China’s Foreign Ministry responded that the relevant reports were “fake news.”
Last month, the United States accused China of cracking down on Uighurs and other major Muslim groups, calling it “genocide.” According to estimates, more than a million Uighurs and other ethnic minorities have been imprisoned in “re-education camps” in China.
China denies the persecution of the Uighurs. Last year, the Chinese ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, declared on the BBC’s Andrew Marr program that “Xinjiang does not have so-called concentration camps. Now there are many false accusations against China.” He also said that in China, Uighurs and other similar nationalities enjoy equal treatment before the law.
Liu Xiaoming: “There is no concentration camp in Xinjiang”
