UK Must Correct Its Mistake Over CGTN: Beijing

China is "firmly opposed" to Britain's decision to revoke the licence of state broadcaster CGTN, the Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

A ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin, told a news briefing that Beijing urges the United Kingdom to "correct its mistake" immediately.

Wang added that China reserves the right to take "necessary action".

Britain's media regulator, Ofcom, revoked CGTN's licence on Thursday after concluding that the Chinese Communist Party has ultimate editorial responsibility for the channel.

Ofcom also said that it expected to shortly conclude separate sanctions proceedings against CGTN for "due impartiality and fairness and privacy breaches" regarding its coverage of Hong Kong's protests in 2019.

Within minutes of the Ofcom statement, Beijing announced that it had lodged "stern representations" to the BBC over what it said was "fake news" coverage of Covid-19 in China. (Additional reporting by Reuters)