China lashes out at UK for revoking license of state channel, cites ideological prejudice

China reportedly lashed out on the UK for revoking the license of Chinese state broadcaster CGTN and even made allegations if “ideological prejudice”. A day after British regulator Ofcom revoked the license on February 4 citing violation of Britsih law by the state-backed CGTN ownership structure. Now the UK broadcasters would either have to stop CGTN’s broadcast or pay an unlimited penalty. Irked by the unprecedented move against the Chinese channel, Chinese foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said it was based on “ideological prejudice and political reasons”.

As per reports, the Chinese government official urged the UK to “ immediately cease political manipulation and correct its mistakes”. Wenbin further said that the Asian country “reserves the right to make the necessary responses” before touting the broadcast for playing a vital role in “enhancing understanding and communication” between the UK and China. In a statement on Thursday, British regulator announced the revoking of license and said its investigation had come to a conclusion that license was “wrongfully” held by SCML.

Read - 'India Prepared For Two-front War': Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria Warns China & Pakistan

Read - Turkey Uighurs Fear Sellout To China In Exchange For Vaccine

Why was the CGTN license revoked?

Ofcom elaborated in a statement that UK’s broadcasting laws made by the Britsih Parliament state that the broadcast licenses must have control over the licensed service including even the editorial insight over the programmed they show. Further, these laws also prohibit license holders to be controlled by political bodies.

However, the British regulator said in that its 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.”

“In addition, we have been unable to grant an application to transfer the licence to an entity called China Global Television Network Corporation (CGTNC). This is because crucial information was missing from the application, and because we consider that CGTNC would be disqualified from holding a licence, as it is controlled by a body which is ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party,” it added.

Read - Taiwan Says Trade Office With Guyana Now Off, Blaming China

Read - US Will Take On Challenges Posed By China Directly: Biden