A pedestrian walks past an office block that houses the offices of China's CGTN Europe (China Global Television Network), in Chiswick Park, west London on February 4, 2021. - The UK's broadcast regulator on Thursday revoked the licence of Chinese news network CGTN after finding its state-backed ownership structure flouted British law, and warned of punishment ahead after it aired an alleged forced confession. - AFP
BEIJING, March 9 (AFP): China on Tuesday threatened unspecified retaliation after its state broadcaster CGTN was fined by the UK's media regulator for alleged biased reporting. Ofcom on Monday fined the network £225,000 ($311,000) after UK national Peter Humphrey complained that he was forced to make a criminal confession on China Global Television Network in 2013, as well as complaints that CGTN programmes on Hong Kong's democracy protests had "failed to maintain due impartiality." Fraud investigator Humphrey was jailed for more than two years by a Chinese court in 2014 in connection with a corruption case involving pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline. Ofcom last month revoked CGTN's license after finding the state-backed ownership structure broke UK law. Beijing on Tuesday said the fine showed "intense ideological prejudice against China" and was "naked political oppression." "CGTN has always upheld the principles of objectivity and fairness when conducting reporting," foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a press briefing. Zhao said China "reserved the right to make justified and necessary responses." Last month, China banned BBC World News, accusing it of flouting guidelines over a hard-hitting report about Beijing's treatment of the country's Uighur minority. 
The move, widely seen as retaliation for Ofcom's ban on CGTN, was followed by accusations from Chinese officials and state media that the BBC had manipulated its footage to cast China in a negative light. English-language satellite broadcaster CGTN has long faced criticism for parroting the Communist Party line in its global broadcasts. It could face further fines after Ofcom upheld the complaints of two high-profile dissidents, Simon Cheng and Gui Minhai, who both allege that CGTN had not presented their cases fairly. Gui, who published gossipy titles about Chinese leaders in Hong Kong, received a 10-year jail term in China last year on charges of illegally providing intelligence abroad. CGTN aired footage of Gui appearing to express regret over the drink-driving charges for which he was initially imprisoned. Ofcom found that the programme did not take sufficient steps to ensure that footage given to them "had not been presented, omitted or disregarded in a way that was unfair to Mr Gui". The regulator also upheld a complaint made by Simon Cheng, a former British consulate staffer in Hong Kong, who was granted asylum in the UK after allegedly being tortured by Chinese secret police. CGTN published a video purporting to show him confessing to "soliciting prostitutes." Ofcom ruled that CTGN had not respected Cheng's privacy nor done enough to uncover and report on the circumstances of the confession. - AFP
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