One of the BBC's reporters in China has decided to relocate from Beijing to Taiwan, after Chinese authorities accused the outlet of spreading false rumors about alleged human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region and openly criticized the reporter's work, the British media outlet said on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st March, 2021) One of the BBC's reporters in China has decided to relocate from Beijing to Taiwan, after Chinese authorities accused the outlet of spreading false rumors about alleged human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region and openly criticized the reporter's work, the British media outlet said on Wednesday.
"Our correspondent John Sudworth has relocated from Beijing to Taiwan. John's work has exposed truths the Chinese authorities did not want the world to know," the BBC said in a statement.
The statement added that Sudworth would continue to cover China for the BBC from Taiwan.
Chinese authorities, including the Foreign Ministry, have criticized the BBC in recent months for making false allegations about human rights abuses against the Uyghur monitories living in Xinjiang. Sudworth's reporting was used as evidence of the BBC's attempt to "smear China's image."
The Beijing-based Foreign Correspondents' Club of China (FCCC), an independent organization of foreign reporters in China, expressed concerns over Sudworth's departure.
"The FCCC is concerned and saddened to learn that John Sudworth, the BBC's award-winning China correspondent for the last nine years, left mainland China at short notice on March 23rd amid concerns for his safety and that of his family," the FCCC said in a statement on Wednesday.
The FCCC detailed the threats against Sudworth in recent months.
"Sudworth left after months of personal attacks and disinformation targeting him and his BBC colleagues, disseminated by both Chinese state media and Chinese government officials. These included videos posted online by state media that named him and used footage of him obtained from Chinese police cameras," the statement said.
Sudworth's wife, Yvonne Murray, the China correspondent of RTE, the Irish broadcaster, left with him, the FCCC said.
The FCCC viewed Sudworth's experiences as part of growing pressure from Chinese authorities on foreign reporters in China.
"The FCCC notes with dismay the increasing frequency of erroneous claims by Chinese state and state-controlled entities that foreign correspondents and their organizations are motivated by anti-China political forces to produce coverage that runs counter to the Communist Party's official line. Alarmingly, Chinese authorities have also shown a greater willingness to threaten journalists with legal measures, proceedings that could subject them to exit bans, barring them from leaving China," the statement said.
The FCCC called on Chinese authorities to "to live up to its stated commitment to facilitate unhindered reporting in China" and halt "dangerous, personal attacks on individual reporters and foreign media outlets."
Chinese authorities have always argued that China welcomes foreign reporters and urges them to try their best to present objective views about the country without prejudices. Beijing has defended its policies in Xinjiang as necessary to root out terrorism.
