The BBC has expressed its disappointment over the removal of its international World News channel from the air in China, while the UK's foreign secretary blasted the move as an "unacceptable curtailing of media freedom."
"We are disappointed that the Chinese authorities have decided to take this course of action," the BBC said in a statement.
The British government-supported media organization described itself as "the world's most trusted international news broadcaster" and insisted that it reports all stories "fairly, impartially and without fear or favour."
On Thursday, China's National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) said that it had banned the BBC because its coverage in the country "violated the requirements that news should be truthful and fair, harmed China's national interests, and undermined China's national unity."...
The BBC World News has been banned from broadcasting in China, the China Global Television Network (CGTN) has reported. The National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) said the BBC's broadcasting licence was withdrawn over grave violations committed in the channel's China-related reports.
ReplyDeleteThe NRTA pointed out that the BBC specifically violated the provisions of the country's media regulations demanding news reports to be "true and impartial". According to the regulator cited by the Xinhua news agency, the British broadcaster undermined China's national interests and "ethnic solidarity" with its actions.