The Chinese government’s broadcasting regulator announced on Friday that it was banning the BBC from broadcasting in the country, claiming that the British broadcaster had harmed Chinese ‘unity’ in its coverage of the country’s atrocities against ethnic minorities.
In a report by the state-run Global Times, the BBC is accused of submitting a biased report on the systematic rape and torture of the Uighurs in Xinjiang. In a statement from the country’s radio and television administration, the BBC was accused of violating the requirement for ‘fair’ reporting and damaging ‘Chinese ethnic unity’.
The BBC published a disturbing report on February 2 on the mass rape, sexual abuse and torture of Uighur Muslims in Chinese detention camps. The United States formally accused China of genocide last month because of its ethnic cleansing practices against the Uighurs, which include labor camps and forced abortions and sterilizations.
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The BBC’s banishment from China is also seen as retaliation after the British regulator revoked the license of the Communist Party’s China Global Television Network last week.
The BBC was already heavily censored in China, but it was available through satellite services at hotels and some residences.
Writer Gordon Chang told Fox News the government’s decision is perhaps the “least surprising news of the decade” and said it could only shut down China more of the world.
“We are disappointed that the Chinese authorities have decided to take this action,” the BBC News press team said in a statement. “The BBC is the world’s most trusted international news broadcaster and reports fairly, impartially and without fear or favor on stories from around the world.”
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab also blasted China over the decision and called for its draconian restrictions on press freedom, saying it would further damage its position in the world.
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The BBC also reported critically on China’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The government’s cover-up of the pandemic in the early weeks was instrumental in its devastating spread around the world, which infected and killed millions.