China’s recent announcement that BBC World News will be banned from broadcasting in the country is another disturbing example of Beijing’s closure and makes clear the scope of the Communist Party’s censorship regime, says author Gordon Chang.
The national radio and television administration of the authoritarian government announced on 11 February its restriction of the British broadcaster, claiming that the BBC had harmed Chinese “unity” with its coverage of the country’s atrocities against ethnic minorities.
“China under Xi Jinping has shut down the rest of the world. It’s basically a closure of the Chinese mind because Xi does not like foreign influences,” Chang told Fox News. “Since China is cutting itself off from the rest of the world, it is not going to have the benefit of communicating with other people. Everyone benefits from talking to others, and societies that cut themselves off are usually strangled in the end.”
China was formally accused by the US last month of committing genocide against Uighurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region through a system of torture, internment, rape and ethnic cleansing.
CHINA BAN BBC AFTER HARROWING REPORT ON ATROSITIES AGAIN
The BBC’s report of 2 February on these atrocities, as well as the British regulator, Ofcom, which revoked the license of the Communist Party’s China Global Television Network earlier this month, led to China’s decision to ban the BBC completely. . It was already strongly censored there, although it could be viewed in hotels and some dwellings.
China is already under worldwide scrutiny over the origins of the deadly coronavirus pandemic and is suppressing critical reporting on the disease at the onset of the outbreak. It has since spread conspiracy theories through state media about the origins of COVID-19.
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“People around the world are going to start thinking about how much censorship there is in China,” Chang said. “Xi Jinping has been getting away with this for some time … It could very well be a turning point where people really start to understand how strict censorship is.”
The BBC said it was “disappointed that the Chinese authorities decided to pursue this action. The BBC is the world’s most trusted international news broadcaster and reports reasonably, impartially and without fear or favor on stories.”