China pulls BBC World News off air for content 'violation'

A recent BBC report broadcast claims of the systematic rape and sexual abuse of women at detention camps for ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims in China's western region of Xinjiang.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab Staff

11 February, 2021

A BBC report on the rape of Uighur women was met with international outrage [AFP]

China's broadcasting regulator announced Thursday it has pulled BBC World News from the air, saying the channel's content had "seriously" violated guidelines for reporting in the country.

In a statement, China's State Film, TV and Radio Administration said BBC World News reports about China were found to "seriously violate" broadcast guidelines, including "the requirement that news should be truthful and fair" and not "harm China's national interests."

"The State Film, TV and Radio Administration does not permit the BBC to continue broadcasting in China, and does not accept its new annual application for broadcast," it said.

A shocking BBC report recently broadcast claims of the systematic rape and sexual abuse of women at detention camps for ethnic Uighurs and other Muslim groups in China's western region of Xinjiang.

The report garnered international outrage, with the US and UK vowing to take action against Chinese human rights abuses.

Rights groups say that at least one million Uighurs and other Turkic-speaking Muslims have been incarcerated in Xinjiang's camps.

Mounting evidence shows that some have been subjected to forced sterilisation and slave labour as part of an assimilation campaign in the region, whose inhabitants are ethnically and culturally distinct from China's Han majority.

Agencies contributed to this report.