BBC Ban Angers US, British Officials

There's been swift condemnation from both the United States and Britain after Beijing's broadcasting regulator banned BBC World Service from Chinese territory for what state media described as "serious content violations".

RTHK has also stopped its live relay of the broadcaster after Beijing’s decision.

British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab condemned China’s move.

"China’s decision to ban BBC World News in mainland China is an unacceptable curtailing of media freedom," Raab said on Friday.

"China has some of the most severe restrictions on media and internet freedoms across the globe, and this latest step will only damage China’s reputation in the eyes of the world,” he said.

British lawmaker Tom Tugendhat, who has formed the China Research Group of like-minded MPs, criticised the move as "both regrettable and entirely unsurprising".

"While this is a largely symbolic tit-for-tat retaliatory move, the deteriorating environment for journalism in China is a concern for us all," he said.

"The (Chinese Communist Party's) increasingly aggressive approach to foreign media, while promoting its own state media outlets across the globe, is an issue which deserves far more scrutiny".

At a regular news briefing, US State Department spokesman Ned Price also accused Beijing of using western media for its own ends.

"It's troubling that as (China) restricts outlets and platforms from operating freely in China, Beijing's leaders use free and open media environments overseas to promote misinformation," Price said.

Earlier this month, the State Department said there must be serious consequences for atrocities in internment camps for ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims in China's Xinjiang region, in response to reports carried by the BBC of systematic rape and sexual abuse against women in the camp.

The ban by mainland officials comes amid a dispute over the British broadcaster's reporting of the treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjang, and follows a decision by the British broadcasting regulator to cancel the licence of Beijing-backed CGTN.

RTHK also stopped its live relay of the BBC World Service following Beijing’s announcement. (Additional reporting by Reuters, AFP)