In an apparent tit for tat move, BBC World News has been banned from airing in China, according to a statement from China’s National Radio and Television Administration.
The announcement comes one week after Ofcom, the British media regulator, withdrew its license for China Global Television Network, or CGTN, to broadcast in the UK.
On February 4, China’s Foreign Ministry lodged a stern representation with the BBC criticizing the broadcaster for its coverage of China’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, dismissing their reports as “fake news.”
‘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 spokesperson said in a statement to CNN Business.