Following China, Hong Kong drops BBC news service

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) – Following China's decision to ban the BBC World News on the mainland, Hong Kong’s public broadcaster also announced Friday it will no longer carry the British outlet.

Radio Television Hong Kong, owned by the local government in China’s semi-autonomous Hong Kong region, said in a statement it will stop using the BBC World Service starting 11 p.m. (1500GMT) on Friday.

The Hong Kong public broadcaster had carried the BBC news service live overnight, from 11 pm to 7 am local time.

Thursday at midnight local time, China’s National Radio and Television Administration banned the BBC from broadcasting in the country on the grounds of perceived bias.

Some BBC reports on China infringed on the “principles of truthfulness and impartiality in journalism,” said the Chinese media regulator.

This appeared to be a tit-for-tat move, as earlier this month, the UK broadcast regulator revoked the license of Chinese state-affiliated China Global Television Network, or CGTN.

Along with its coverage of Hong Kong, China has been critical of BBC reporting on the mistreatment of Muslim Uighurs in the northwest Xinjiang region.

The UK called the new ban “unacceptable” while the US similarly condemned the move.