Beijing (AFP)

China's broadcasting regulator said on Thursday it had banned BBC World News from broadcasting in China, a move London immediately denounced as an "unacceptable attack on press freedom."

Beijing believes that the contents of the international news channel had "seriously" violated the directives in force in the country.

In a statement, the authority believes that the continuous news channel notably violated the principle according to which "information must be truthful and fair" and "do not prejudice the national interests of China".

Also, it "does not allow the BBC to continue to broadcast in China".

The ban comes after the BBC aired a report on February 3 containing harrowing accounts of torture and sexual violence against Uyghur women in Chinese internment camps.

The BBC regretted this decision.

"We are disappointed that the Chinese authorities have decided to take this measure," said a spokeswoman for the British channel.

"The BBC is the world's most trusted international news broadcaster. It covers topics from around the world honestly, impartially and without fear or favor."

British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab, for his part, denounced an "unacceptable attack on press freedom".

"China has some of the toughest restrictions in the world on media and internet freedom, and this latest move will only damage China's reputation in the eyes of the world," the foreign minister said in a tweet.

The US State Department has indicated that it too "absolutely condemns" this BBC ban.

- Uyghur survey -

In its long-term investigation based on numerous testimonies, the BBC had reported on allegations of systematic rape, sexual abuse and torture of women detained by police and guards in China's western Xinjiang region. .

The region is home to the predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority and has seen widespread security repression by Chinese forces in recent years in response to separatist unrest.

The report reports electric shock torture, including anal rape by guards using electric batons.

The women were victims of gang rapes and forced sterilizations, according to witnesses.

"Cries echoed throughout the building," according to a witness quoted by the radio.

Human rights groups estimate that at least one million Uyghurs and other Turkish-speaking Muslims are being held in camps in Xinjiang.

The concrete impact of this ban will actually be limited, since Chinese households already did not receive the BBC, which was only present in international hotels.

- "more and more aggressive" -

Beijing's decision comes a week after the UK's license for the Chinese public news channel CGTN, considered to be subject to the Chinese Communist Party, was withdrawn from the UK.

It is announced in an already tense context between London and Beijing.

Their relations were already undermined by London's condemnation of the controversial Chinese security law in Hong Kong and the crackdown on pro-democracy movements, which led Britain to grant privileged rights to some nationals of the ex-colony to emigrate to its territory.

The United Kingdom denounced Beijing's "barbarism" towards Uyghurs and announced measures in early January to prevent goods linked to the alleged forced labor of this Muslim minority in the Xinjiang region from reaching British consumers.

The BBC also recently aired a documentary accusing Beijing of covering up the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, which had also angered Beijing.

According to British MP Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, the decision to ban BBC World News is "regrettable", but "not at all surprising".

“Although this is a largely symbolic retaliatory measure, the deteriorating environment for journalism in China is a concern for all of us,” he told AFP.

"The increasingly aggressive approach of the Chinese Communist Party towards foreign media is an issue that deserves much closer examination."

© 2021 AFP