“The State Administration of Radio and Television (SART) will not allow BBC World News to continue to be disseminated in China, and will not accept its application for any broadcasting in the coming year,” the SART said in a statement on its website.
In a possible reference to the BBC’s recent interviews with Uyghur women detailing rape and sexual assault in Xinjiang’s mass internment camps, the agency said reporting by the BBC had “violated the requirement that its reporting be truthful and fair, harmed China’s national interests and undermined China’s national unity.”
The ban also applies to the daily rebroadcasting of eight hours of BBC World Service radio content in Hong Kong, via government broadcaster RTHK’s Radio Four channel. British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab on Friday condemned the decision by China to ban all BBC broadcasting on Chinese territory, saying it was an attack on press freedom.
