No Chinese media outlet is "truly independent" of the Communist Party and all news outlets have little choice but to serve as the "throat and tongue" of the party, reported Nikkei Asia.
Commenting on the recent China's ban on British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Nikkei's bureau chief in China, Tetsushi Takahashi, said control of the media has only increased since President Xi Jinping became the country's supreme leader in autumn 2012.
"No Chinese media outlet is truly independent of the Communist Party in the first place. Ultimately, all newspapers, TV channels and radio stations have little choice but to serve as the "throat and tongue" of the party. Control of the media has only increased since Xi Jinping became the country's supreme leader in autumn 2012," he wrote.
On Friday, the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) of China barred the broadcasting of BBC World News on the mainland claiming that it has done a "slew of falsified" reporting on issues such as human rights violations in Xinjiang based on interviews of victims surviving "re-education camps."
Global Times, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government's mouthpiece, said that the British broadcaster is responsible "for falsified reporting" on China's handling of the coronavirus in the country.
The move came after the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that "BBC has made some false reports" on human rights abuses against Uyghurs in Xinjiang after the British broadcaster reported systematic rape in so-called re-education camps.
The United States and European Union (EU) have condemned the Chinese action of banning BBC.The EU said China should reverse its ban on BBC World News as it violated both the Chinese constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
( With inputs from ANI )
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