The BBC came under fire on Friday (February 5) among Chinese officials and on social media in a growing diplomatic dispute, a day after the British regulator of Britain revoked the TV license of the Chinese state media CGTN.
Ofcom concluded on Thursday (February 4) that China’s ruling Communist Party has the ultimate editorial responsibility for the channel, the English-language sister channel of state broadcaster CCTV.
Minutes later, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement accusing the BBC of citing ‘false news’ in its COVID-19 reporting, apologizing and saying that the broadcaster had politicized the pandemic and ‘repeated the theories about the cover-up by China’. ‘
The BBC’s coverage of Xinjiang has come under heavy criticism after it reported on Wednesday that women in internment camps for ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims in the region had been subjected to rape and torture.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the report had no factual basis.
The BBC said its reporting was fair and unbiased.
Wang Wenbin, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, on Friday complained of Ofcom’s ruling that he was politicizing the issue on a technical point and warned that China reserves the right to provide an “essential response”.
“China urges the United Kingdom to stop these political gimmicks immediately and rectify their mistakes. China upholds the right to respond to the legitimate rights of Chinese media.”
The state media in China have intensified attacks on the British public broadcaster in recent weeks.
The BBC’s criticism of the Foreign Office on Friday was one of the top trends on the Weibo social media platform in China.
BBC broadcasts, such as those of most Western news agencies, are blocked in China.
Some people have asked that the BBC be suspended in response to CGTN’s license.
Video transcription
– The BBC came under fire from Chinese officials and social media on Friday in a growing diplomatic dispute a day after Britain’s British regulator revoked the TV license of Chinese state media ‘CGTN’. Ofcom on Thursday concluded that China’s ruling Communist Party has ultimate editorial responsibility for the channel, the English-language sister channel of state broadcaster “CCTV”.
Minutes later, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement accusing the “BBC” of propagating fake news in its COVID-19 reporting, apologizing and saying that the broadcaster had politicized the pandemic and the theories about the cover-up by China have resurfaced.
The “BBC” coverage of Xinjiang has come under heavy criticism after it reported on Wednesday that women in internment camps for ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims in the region had been subjected to rape and torture. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the report had no factual basis. The “BBC” said its reporting was fair and unbiased. Wang Wenbin, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, on Friday complained of Ofcom’s ruling because he politicized the matter on a technical point and warned that China reserves the right to make the necessary response.
WANG WENBIN BY INTERPRETER: China is calling on the UK to stop these political gimmicks immediately and correct their mistakes. China maintains the right to provide the necessary response to protect the legal rights of Chinese media.
– The state media in China have intensified attacks on the British public broadcaster in recent weeks. The Foreign Ministry’s criticism of the “BBC” was one of the top trends on the Weibo social media platform in China on Friday. “BBC” broadcasts, such as those of major Western news agencies, are being blocked in China. Some people have asked for the “BBC” to be suspended in response to the “CGTN” license.