A Chinese Communist Party (CCP) state-owned television network is facing heavy fines and a possible ban in the United Kingdom over its biased portrayal of the pro-democracy Hong Kong protests.
Britain’s regulatory body for broadcasting and telecommunications, Ofcom, ruled that China Global Television Network (CGTN) violated impartiality rules in five separate instances last year, by only providing the “Chinese perspective” on Hong Kong.
Ofcom said that the network’s portrayal “presented a one-sided perspective on the violence… and gave the impression that the protesters were solely responsible for the violence and disruption”.
As a result of the ruling, the Chinese propaganda network faces fines as well as a possible revocation of its licence to broadcast in the country, as happened in 2012 to Press TV, an Iranian state news network, The Times reports.
The Chinese network, which employs dozens of journalists at its offices in London, claimed that it found it “particularly challenging” to report on alternative perspectives because the protesters would not speak to pro-Beijing reporters.
The founder and chairman of Hong Kong Watch, Benedict Rogers, told Breitbart London: “I welcome the decision by Ofcom that rules that CGTN failed to show impartiality in its coverage of the Hong Kong protests — this is a significant development.”
“I hope Ofcom will also rule soon on the cases filed by Peter Humphrey, Peter Dahlin, Angela Gui, and Simon Cheng, alleging CCTV [China Central Television] and CGTN complicity with torture. I hope action will be taken, based on these cases, against the CGTN media centre in London to ensure it either complies with our standards or considers its future,” Rogers added.
In March, the Trump administration designated CGTN along with four other Chinese state media outlets — Xinhua, China Daily, Hai Tian Development USA, and China Radio International — as “foreign missions”, as their purpose is not to provide real news but rather to spout propaganda for the Chinese Communist Party.
“Unlike foreign media organizations in China, these entities are not independent news organizations,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in February.
The authoritarian regime in Beijing said that the restrictions were a “ridiculous war against Chinese media”.
China Global Television Network — apparently undeterred by the Ofcom ruling — published an article entitled “The end of Hong Kong? Rather, a restart!” in reference to concerns about the draconian national security legislation that the communist regime is set to impose on Hong Kong.
“With this new legislation, Hong Kong’s legal system would become more effective and just, and bring about a new era in Hong Kong’s prosperity,” the CCP mouthpiece proclaimed.
The national security law, which was passed by the rubber-stamp congress in Beijing on Thursday, will give the puppet government in Hong Kong sweeping powers to clamp down on the pro-freedom protesters, who took to the streets in their millions last year.
Follow Kurt on Twitter at @KurtZindulka
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