The BBC came under fire from Chinese officials and on social media on Friday (Feb. 5) in an escalating diplomatic dispute, a day after the British media regulator revoked the TV license of the Chinese state media agency CGTN.
On Thursday (Feb. 4), Ofcom concluded that the ruling Communist Party of China had ultimate editorial responsibility for the channel, the English-language sister channel of the state broadcaster CCTV.
Minutes later, China’s Foreign Ministry released a statement accusing the BBC of pushing “fake news” into its COVID-19 reporting, demanding an apology, saying the broadcaster had politicized the pandemic and “obscuring theories about it. re-politicized by China ”.
The BBC’s coverage of Xinjiang came under severe criticism after it reported Wednesday that women in internment camps for ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslims in the region were raped and tortured.
China’s Foreign Ministry said the report had no factual basis.
The BBC said its coverage is fair and unbiased.
On Friday, Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, condemned Ofcom’s statement as “politicizing the issue on a technicality” and warned that China reserves the right to provide a “necessary response.”
“China is urging the UK to immediately stop these political tricks and correct their mistakes. China reserves the right to take the necessary steps to safeguard the legitimate rights of Chinese media.”
Chinese state media has been ramping up attacks on the British public broadcaster in recent weeks.
The Foreign Ministry’s criticism of the BBC was among the top trends on the Chinese social media platform Weibo on Friday.
BBC broadcasts, such as that of most major Western news outlets, are blocked in China.
Some people called for the BBC’s exclusion in response to the withdrawal of CGTN’s license.
Video transcription
– The “BBC” came under fire on Friday by Chinese officials and on social media in an escalating diplomatic dispute, a day after the British media regulator revoked Chinese state media “CGTN” TV license. On Thursday, Ofcom concluded that the ruling Communist Party of China had ultimate editorial responsibility for the channel, the English-language sister channel of the state broadcaster “CCTV”.
Minutes later, China’s Foreign Ministry released a statement accusing the “BBC” of pushing fake news in its COVID-19 reporting, demanding an apology, saying the broadcaster had politicized the pandemic and hiding the theories about it. of China had politicized.
The BBC’s coverage of Xinjiang came under severe criticism after it reported Wednesday that women in internment camps for ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslims in the region were raped and tortured. China’s Foreign Ministry said the report has no factual basis. The “BBC” said its coverage is fair and unbiased. On Friday, Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, condemned the Ofcom ruling as politicizing the issue on a technicality and warned that China reserves the right to provide a necessary response.
WANG WENBIN VIA INTERPRETER: China is urging the UK to immediately stop these political tricks and correct their mistakes. China reserves the right to take the necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights of the Chinese media.
– Chinese state media has been ramping up attacks on the British public broadcaster in recent weeks. The State Department’s criticism of the “BBC” was among the top trends on China’s Weibo social media platform on Friday. “BBC” broadcasts, such as those from major Western news outlets, are being blocked in China. Some people called for the “BBC” to be expelled in response to the “CGTN” license withdrawal.