SHANGHAI (CU)_China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television announced on Thursday (Feb 11) that it has banned BBC World News from broadcasting in the country, claiming that the British television channel violated broadcast guidelines.
The move comes just days after UK’s communications watchdog revoked the national broadcasting license of the Chinese state-owned TV channel, China Global Television Network’s (CGTN), after an investigation found that the channel’s licence was wrongfully held by Star China Media Ltd.
Announcing its decision, China’s regulator said BBC’s application to air in the East Asian country will not be accepted for another year, since BBC World News reports about China were found to “seriously violate” broadcast guidelines, including “the requirement that news should be truthful and fair” and not “harm China’s national interests”.
Beijing has also criticised the BBC for its reporting on Coronavirus and the persecution of ethnic minority Uighurs.
Responding to these allegations, the British broadcaster said that it is “the world’s most trusted international news broadcaster”, and reports “fairly, impartially and without fear or favour”.
“We are disappointed that the Chinese authorities have decided to take this course of action,” BBC said in a statement. “The BBC is the world’s most trusted international news broadcaster and reports on stories from around the world fairly, impartially and without fear or favour.”
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called Beijing’s decision an “unacceptable curtailing of media freedom”, adding that it will only damage China’s reputation in the eyes of the world.
Meanwhile, the US State Department also condemned the decision, saying the move was a part of a wider campaign to suppress free media in China.
“We absolutely condemn the PRC’s (People’s Republic of China) decision to ban BBC World News,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said. He added that the PRC maintains one of “the most controlled, most oppressive, least free information spaces in the world”.
In the recent months, relations between London and Beijing have seen a serious deterioration, especially following the new visa scheme introduced by the UK, which offers qualifying Hong Kong citizens a route to British citizenship. Although London says the scheme is its way of fulfilling a historic and moral commitment to the people of Hong Kong, in response to China’s new security laws in the former British colony, however, Beijing denounced the move saying it was an interference with China’s internal affairs.
Moreover, in the past two years China’s ruling Communist Party has been systematically blocking or banning foreign media, including the expulsion of journalists from three US newspapers last year.
Moreover, the BBC World News TV channel, which broadcasts globally in English, was already largely restricted in the East Asian country, as it only appeared in international hotels and some diplomatic compounds.
On February 2, BBC published a report featuring interviews with Uighur women who said they had been raped, sexually abused and tortured in China’s detention camps. China’s Foreign Ministry responded to the report, accusing BBC of making a “false report”, as Beijing continues to insist that these camps are a part of a voluntary employment and language-training program.
