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China blocks BBC for "failing to meet truthfulness and impartiality requirements"

2021-02-12T14:22:15.894Z


The British Foreign Minister denounces the ban as "an unacceptable restriction of freedom of the media" that will damage the "reputation" of the country "in the eyes of the world."


Image of the BBC broadcast in China.ALEX PLAVEVSKI / EFE

The Chinese authorities have blocked the broadcasts in their country of the British channel BBC World News for "going against the requirements that the information must be impartial and truthful," the National Radio and Television Administration reported today in a statement published on its website. .

"Following an investigation," the text states, "it was concluded that the BBC World News reports on China seriously violated" the regulations in force regarding the broadcast and "violated the requirements that the news must be truthful and impartial."

Likewise, the institution accused the BBC information of "damaging the national interests of China and undermining the national unity" of the country.

Thus, the National Administration of Radio and Television concluded, the network "does not comply with the conditions for broadcasting foreign channels in China, it will not be allowed to broadcast in China and its request for retransmission for next year will not be accepted."

In a statement, the chain itself was "disappointed" by the decision: "The BBC is the most reliable news network and reports stories around the world fairly, impartially and without fear or favoritism."

BBC World News in English is not included in most packages of TV channels in China, it only reaches international hotels and diplomatic complexes, so most of the population could not see it anymore.

The UK was quick to protest also through a statement signed by the British Foreign Minister, Dominic Raab, who called the decision "unacceptable".

Raab denounced the ban as "an unacceptable restriction on media freedom" that will damage "China's reputation in the eyes of the world."

In recent weeks, the Chinese state press has led a campaign against the BBC - and its journalists have even been subjected to insults and harassment on social media - following reports denouncing serious human rights violations against religious minorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.

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Beijing flatly denies these accusations about what is happening in Xinjiang, a region in northwestern China where the foreign press faces additional restrictions when it comes to reporting.

The Chinese authorities' decision comes a week after British media regulator Ofcom announced that it will withdraw its license to broadcast in the United Kingdom from the state-owned China Global Television Network (CGTN).

According to Ofcom, the CGTN licensee "does not meet the legal requirement to have control over the service," a function that the regulator maintains is in the hands of an entity ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

At the same time, Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), the station financed with public funds in the former British territory, announced this Friday that it would suspend the transmission of BBC news programming after Beijing's decision, according to the Reuters news agency .


Source: elparis

All news articles on 2021-02-12

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