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China Bans BBC World News, Claims Channel Failed To Meet Its Broadcasting Requirements

Pedestrians walks past the doors of the BBC's Bush House in London 07 December, 2004. (NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/GettyImages)

NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/GettyImages

Shelby Talcott Senior White House Correspondent
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China banned BBC World News from broadcasting on China’s mainland, a BBC spokeswoman confirmed Thursday to the Daily Caller.

“We are disappointed that the Chinese authorities have decided to take this course of action.  The BBC is the world’s most trusted international news broadcaster and reports on stories from around the world fairly, impartially and without fear or favour,” a BBC spokeswoman said in a statement.

The announcement was made Thursday by China’s broadcasting regulator, according to Reuters. (RELATED: China Says It Will Expel American Journalists From The Country)

“As the channel fails to meet the requirements to broadcast in China as an overseas channel, BBC World News is not allowed to continue its service within Chinese territory,” the regulator announced according to China’s state-run media organization Xinhua News. “The NRTA will not accept the channel’s broadcast application for the new year.”

The move further bans BBC World News, which is not included in most television options in China but was available in international hotels. Two journalists currently in China for Reuters reported the channel going blank on their television screens, according to the publication.

China’s ban on BBC World News follows the country being banned just last week by Ofcom, a British media regulator. Ofcom revoked China Global Television Networks’ (CGTN) license for U.K. broadcasting following an investigation, according to an announcement from the regulator.

“Our investigation concluded that Star China Media Limited (SCML), the licence-holder for the CGTN service, did not have editorial responsibility for CGTN’s output. As such, SCML does not meet the legal requirement of having control over the licensed service, and so is not a lawful broadcast licensee,” Ofcom noted on Feb. 4.

China began amping up its dispute with Britain after Ofcom’s announcement. A past report from Reuters notes that “minutes” after Ofcom’s decision, China’s foreign ministry claimed the British broadcasting Corp had been publishing “fake news” on coronavirus. China’s foreign ministry also said that the network had “rehashed theories about covering up [COVID-19] by China.”

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