China has threatened to retaliate after British regulators stripped China's state TV channel of its UK broadcasting licence amid mounting tensions between London and Beijing.

British regulator Ofcom yesterday revoked the licence of CGTN, the international channel of China's state broadcaster CCTV, after finding its state-backed ownership structure broke UK law.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the UK of 'political oppression' and 'double standards', and demanded Britain 'correct its mistakes' on Friday.

Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson of the foreign ministry, told reporters that Ofcom had acted on 'political grounds based on ideological bias'.

Mr Wang condemned Ofcom for 'politicising technical issues, seriously harming the survival of Chinese media and severely interfering with normal exchanges between the two countries'.

He also accused the 'British side' of ignoring freedom of the press, holding 'double standards' and launching 'political oppression'.

'We urge the UK to immediately stop political manipulation and correct its mistakes. China reserves the right to make the necessary response to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese media,' Mr Wang said at a daily briefing.

In its decision issued on Thursday, Ofcom said it revoked the UK licence for China Global Television Network, or CGTN, an international English-language satellite news channel, because of a lack of editorial control and links to China's Communist Party.

CGTN had been available on free and pay TV in the UK. Regulators started looking into the station after receiving a complaint from human rights group Safeguard Defenders that called for an investigation into its ownership.

Ofcom is also continuing to investigate several additional complaints that the station violated rules on fairness and accuracy. 

Those complaints include the broadcasting of alleged forced confessions by a former British Consulate employee in Hong Kong and a British corporate investigator and longtime government critic, Gui Minhai, whose whereabouts are now unknown.

In a tweet, Gui's daughter Angela Gui said, 'Finally, five years after first airing a forced confession by my father #GuiMinhai in the UK, Ofcom has revoked CGTN's licence to broadcast. Thank you @SafeguardDefend and everyone else who's filed complaints.'

Finally, five years after first airing a forced confession by my father #GuiMinhai in the UK, Ofcom has revoked CGTN’s license to broadcast. Thank you @SafeguardDefend and everyone else who’s filed complaints. https://t.co/mI8qmTFjiB

— Angela Gui (@angelagui_) February 4, 2021

Ofcom's decision adds to friction between Britain and China, already strained by the UK's efforts to address allegations of human rights abuses against the Uighur minority in Xinjiang and widen residency rights for Hong Kongers.

Mr Wang gave no details on how China would retaliate. However, the BBC, which is only available in some hotels, businesses and residential compounds for foreigners in China, could become a target.

The Foreign Ministry initially responded to word of the loss of CGTN's licence with renewed criticism of the BBC.

The ministry called a January 29 BBC report on COVID-19 in China 'typical fake news' and demanding a public apology.

It said 'China reserves the right to take further measures.' The BBC said it stood by its reporting and rejected the 'unfounded accusations.'

In his defence of CGTN, Mr Wang said the British knew all along about its ties to China's ruling party.

Mr Wang said CGTN always adhered to regulations and upheld the principles of 'objectivity, impartiality, truthfulness and accuracy in news reporting'.

'China is a socialist country led by the Communist Party. The British side has been well aware of the nature of the Chinese media,' Mr Wang said.

'The British side knew this clearly from the first day CGTN broadcasted in the UK 18 years ago. That the UK now makes an issue of Chinese media's nature and obstructing CGTN in its broadcasting is purely political manipulation,' he said.

CGTN has been at the forefront of the party's bid to seize the narrative from Western news media about human rights in China and its aggressive military and diplomatic moves amid a hardening of attitudes toward China in countries from South Korea to Canada. Source: Daily Mail

LONDON

Britain expelled three Chinese spies last year who were in the country posing as journalists, according to a report published by a local media outlet on Thursday.

British daily The Telegraph claimed the three men were “intelligence officers for Beijing’s Ministry of State Security.”

The article did not name the individuals, but quoted a government source as confirming that they claimed to “work for three different Chinese media agencies.”

The report came as the UK government is set to take up new legislation on spying and the Official Secrets Act in the next parliamentary session due to start in May.

“This would aim to outlaw acts of malign interference and influence by foreign states that do not currently meet the threshold of illegality,” read the article.

The news of Chinese spies being deported follows the UK’s move to revoke the license of Chinese state-affiliated broadcaster China Global Television Network (CGTN).

Britain’s broadcast watchdog, Ofcom, said on Thursday that the news channel was not under the editorial control of the stated license holder and its operations were in breach of UK laws.

It said a process is also underway to sanction CGTN over its coverage of last year’s protests in Hong Kong.

“In 2020 we found CGTN in breach of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code for failing to preserve due impartiality in its coverage of the Hong Kong protests, and also found a serious breach of our fairness and privacy rules,” the authority said.

“Due to the seriousness of these breaches, we told CGTN that we would consider imposing sanctions.”

The regulator said it has “three other fairness and privacy investigations about content on the CGTN service which also remains ongoing, pending further consideration.” AA