Britain's Foreign Minister Condemns China's Ban On BBC Streaming
JAKARTA - The British-owned news television station BBC World News was banned from broadcasting in China on Friday 12 February. The ban comes just a week after media regulators in the UK revoked the broadcast license of China's top channel China Global Television Network (CGTN) in the UK.
However, the Chinese authorities used another pretext. The National Administration of Radio and Television of China (NRTA) announced that it had found a serious violation of regulations regarding honest and fair reporting by the BBC.
This is considered to be detrimental to China's interests and undermine national unity. As a result, the channel is deemed not meeting the broadcast requirements of foreign channels in China.
English BBC World News is not included in most TV channel packages in mainland China, but is available in some hotels and homes.
England also objected to this. British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab condemned China's decision. According to him, what China is doing is an unacceptable media limitation.
“China's decision to ban BBC World News in mainland China is an unacceptable restriction of media freedom. China has some of the most severe restrictions on media and internet freedom worldwide. And this latest move will only damage China's reputation in the eyes of the world, "he condemned.
BBC pung expressed disappointment with the Chinese government's decision to ban BBC World News broadcasts.
"The BBC is the most trusted international news broadcaster in the world and reports news from around the world fairly, impartially and without fear or support," the BBC said in a statement.
To note, this month the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was deeply disturbed by the BBC's report regarding the systematic rape and sexual abuse of women in internment camps for ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims in the Xinjiang region of China. China denies allegations of abuses in Xinjiang and says the BBC report is completely without factual basis.
Earlier on February 4, British media regulator Ofcom revoked CGTN's license for broadcast in the UK, after an investigation found that the license was illegally held by Star China Media Ltd. China criticized the decision for being politicized and warned it had the right to make the necessary response.