The Chinese broadcasting regulator announced Thursday that it had banned the broadcasting of BBC World News in China, a move that London immediately denounced as an “unacceptable attack on press freedom”.
Beijing believes that the contents of the international news channel had “seriously” violated the directives in force in the country.
In a statement, the authority believes that the continuous news channel has notably violated the principle according to which “the information must be truthful and fair” and “do not prejudice the national interests of China”. Also, it “does not authorize the BBC to continue to broadcast in China”.
The ban comes after the BBC aired a report on February 3 containing harrowing accounts of torture and sexual violence against Uyghur women in Chinese internment camps.
The BBC regretted this decision.
“We are disappointed that the Chinese authorities have decided to take this measure,” said a spokeswoman for the British channel. “The BBC is the world’s most trusted international news broadcaster. She covers topics from all over the world in an honest, impartial manner and without fear or favor ”.
The British Foreign Minister, Dominic Raab, for his part denounced an “unacceptable attack on freedom of the press”.
“China has some of the strictest restrictions in the world on media and internet freedom, and this latest measure will only damage China’s reputation in the eyes of the world,” the foreign minister said in a tweet.
The US State Department has indicated that it too “absolutely condemns” this BBC ban.
Uyghur survey
In its long-term investigation based on numerous testimonies, the BBC reported on allegations of systematic rape, sexual assault and torture of women detained by police and guards in China’s western Xinjiang region. .
The region is home to the predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority, and has seen widespread security repression by Chinese forces in recent years in response to separatist unrest.
The report reports electric shock torture, including anal rape by guards using electric batons. The women were victims of gang rapes and forced sterilizations, according to witnesses.
“Cries echoed throughout the building”, according to a witness quoted by the radio.
Human rights groups estimate that at least one million Uyghurs and other Turkish-speaking Muslims are being held in camps in Xinjiang.
The concrete impact of this ban will actually be limited, since Chinese households were already not receiving the BBC, which was only present in international hotels.
“More and more aggressive”
Beijing’s decision comes a week after the UK’s license for the Chinese public news channel CGTN, considered to be subject to the Chinese Communist Party, was withdrawn from the UK.
• Read also: Beijing Cries “Oppression” After Its UK Broadcaster’s License Withdrawn
It is announced in an already tense context between London and Beijing. Their relations were already undermined by London’s condemnation of the controversial Chinese security law in Hong Kong and the crackdown on pro-democracy movements, which led Britain to grant privileged rights to some nationals of the former. colony to emigrate to its territory.
The United Kingdom denounced Beijing’s “barbarism” towards Uyghurs and announced measures in early January to prevent goods linked to the alleged forced labor of this Muslim minority in the Xinjiang region from reaching British consumers.
The BBC also recently aired a documentary accusing Beijing of covering up the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had also angered Beijing.
According to British MP Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, the decision to ban BBC World News is “regrettable” but “not at all surprising”.
“Although this is a largely symbolic retaliatory measure, the deteriorating environment for journalism in China is a concern for all of us,” he told AFP.
“The increasingly aggressive approach of the Chinese Communist Party towards foreign media is an issue that deserves much closer examination.”
Washington “absolutely condemns” BBC ban in China
The United States on Thursday condemned the ban on the British international news channel BBC World News in China and called on Beijing to promote “freedom of the press.”
“We absolutely condemn the decision of the People’s Republic of China,” US diplomacy spokesman Ned Price said.
“We call on the People’s Republic of China and other nations that exercise authoritarian control over their people to allow unhindered access to the internet and freedom of the press,” he added.
According to him, “the space for information” in China is “one of the most controlled, one of the most oppressive and one of the least free in the world”.
The spokesperson said it was “disturbing” that the Chinese leadership “is using the environment of freedom and openness for the media abroad to promote disinformation” while imposing “restrictions” at home.
The Chinese audiovisual regulator announced on Thursday that it had banned the broadcast of BBC World News in China, a move that London immediately denounced as an “unacceptable attack on press freedom”.
Beijing believes that the contents of the channel have “seriously” violated the guidelines in force in the country.
The ban comes after the BBC aired a report on February 3 containing harrowing accounts of torture and sexual violence against Uyghur women in Chinese internment camps.