CRG Weekly: CGTN licence revoked, genocide amendment returns, spies expelled from Britain

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News from the CRG

Next event: At 10am on Tuesday 16th February, Professor Rana Mitter will join CRG Chair, Tom Tugendhat, for a discussion on UK-China relations, looking at the timely question of how China perceives the UK. Sign up here.

In case you missed it: Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, Chair of the China-British Business Council, joined the CRG earlier this week to discuss the business perspective on the UK-China relationship.

The week in review

The week started on a positive note with the news that the UK was formally applying to join the CPTPP, a move heralded as making the UK a “Pacific player”. But over the course of the week, relations with China have soured to the point that Chinese citizens are debating the minutiae of Ofcom’s broadcasting regulations on Weibo.

Cast your mind back to Tuesday night, when the BBC reported excruciating further detail on the systemic abuse of Uyghur women in Xinjiang. By Thursday, Nus Ghani MP had secured an urgent question in Parliament on the issue. The UK government joined the US State Department in condemning the abuse. But despite mounting evidence, little has changed on the government’s position on Xinjiang, other than the forced labour measures announced last month. Asia Minister Nigel Adams repeated that sanctions are “under review” - a stance that frustrates MPs across the house.

The news from Xinjiang will provide fresh impetus to next week’s Commons debate on amendments to the Trade Bill. The Lords on Tuesday voted 359-188 in favour of Lord Alton's revised amendment, which would enable the government to have a final say over trade agreements after a preliminary determination by the High Court. The government continues to resist the amendment, teeing up the prospect of another tight vote. The Guardian reports that the government’s preferred alternative is to extend the powers of the Foreign Affairs Committee to investigate and issue a recommendation on a country's human rights record.

Elsewhere, momentum continues to build against China's treatment of Uyghurs: Manchester University cancelled a partnership with the China Electronics Technology Company after warnings from the Foreign Affairs Committee that the company was involved in the persecution of Uyghurs. A former prominent Danish Huawei executive spoke out about the company's failure to prevent its technologies from being used as a tool of Uyghur oppression. 180 human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, called for a boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.

Then, on Thursday, Ofcom withdrew CGTN's licence to broadcast in the UK. The independent regulator ruled that licence-holder Star China Media Limited failed to meet editorial responsibility requirements. Ofcom concluded that the network was ultimately editorially controlled by the state-controlled CCTV, breaking UK broadcasting law. A ban was almost inevitable in some form; Ofcom had separately been investigating the airing of forced confessions and CGTN’s coverage of Hong Kong protests.

The decision was met with scorn from Chinese officials and media. Much of that was aimed at the BBC, accused of spreading “fake news” over Xinjiang, but the UK government’s was also blamed for “political oppression”. The same day, The Telegraph reported that three Chinese spies purporting to work as journalists had been expelled from the UK over the last year, adding fuel to a fire that has become increasingly focused on the role and influence of media in the UK-China relationship.

Tension now seems ubiquitous: a joint statement by the foreign and defence ministers from the UK and Japan expressed “serious concerns” over the South and East China Sea. And in the first week of the new Hong Kong BNO visa scheme, migration agents in Hong Kong noted a high level of demand in spite of an announcement by Cathay Pacific that it would not consider the BNO as valid travel document. Pushing back against suggestions that the FCDO could block foreign academics deemed “likely to spy”, the Chinese Embassy in the UK labelled the practice “tantamount to resurrecting the Cold-War mentality.”

In a high-profile speech to the National Committee on US-China Relations earlier this week, top diplomat Yang Jiechi reminded the audience of China’s position: stop “harassing Chinese students, restricting Chinese media outlets, shutting down Confucius Institutes and suppressing Chinese companies”. Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang affairs were a “red line that must not be crossed.” The UK has crossed almost all of China’s red lines in a single week. Retaliation from Beijing seems inevitable.

All this in the same week that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang led calls for the UK-China relationship to move onto firmer footing. In an address to British business leaders, Li said that “no matter how the regional and international landscape may evolve, China’s commitment to its relations to the UK remains as strong as ever.” The UK’s current balancing act - loud and public condemnation of China’s repressive regime with one hand while reaping the rewards of deep economic ties with the other - looks increasingly improbable.

In brief

Weekend reads

'The start of a bitter winter of relations': Charles Parton in The Telegraph anticipates Beijing's response to Ofcom withdrawing CGTN's license amidst a now undeniable reversal of the 'Golden Era'.

Boris Johnson's approach to China-UK relations is incoherent: David Green, of World Politics Review, argues that a lack of guiding principles threatens to leave the UK stranded between viable policy options.

Britain's pivot to the East makes sense, but there are dangers too: Philip Aldrick argues that the UK's application to the CPTPP as an emblem of a shifting global focus must not forget to uphold minimum standards on areas like data protection.

What the Myanmar coup means for China: The Diplomat breaks down China's links with Aung San Suu Kyi and the military as well as the importance of China's relationship with Myanmar in China's broader diplomatic ambition.

Trending: Chinese media on the UK

The phrase of the week is “so-called” (所谓的), used to mock Britain’s “so-called” freedom of speech after banning CGTN. A popular special report from Shanghai-based Xinmin Evening News said the “British side has suppressed CGTN on grounds of so-called biased reporting and so-called fairness and privacy investigation”

Two articles trending on Chinese social media on the UK yesterday:

  • "Addicted to provoking China: the UK has done it again.": One article argues that Britain banned CGTN because it is concerned about British citizens becoming jealous of China’s success in tackling Covid-19.

  • State-run Observer Network ran an op-ed asking what the UK is afraid of. It argues that the BBC “showed its national-level prejudice” with its coverage of the Hong Kong protests in 2019, BBC staff are selected by MI5 and, intriguingly, that the UK was replicating domestic tactics used against Jeremy Corbyn.

Research bites

  • A new LSE study looks at the effects of Chinese investment in Ethiopia over the past 20 years, finding a significant positive economic impact in the medium to long term.

  • The German Chamber of Commerce in China's business confidence survey found high levels of German confidence in China: 96% of companies have no plans to exit the market; 77% of German companies expect the market to develop significantly better in China than in other economies.

  • A new comprehensive NED report analyses the CCP’s efforts to shape media content around the world, and compares efforts taken in democracies to counter influence.

  • China has slumped behind its targets as part of the Phase One US-China trade deal, according to PIIE's Phase One tracker. China imported $100bn of US goods, just under 58% of its commitment.

Thanks for reading. To get in touch, hit reply or email office@chinaresearchgroup.org.

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