Page:ISC-China.pdf/54

CHINA As well as seeking to influence the narrative through UK media outlets, China has also been seeking to expand its own media presence in the UK—another lever that can be used to promote values and standards at odds with those upheld by the UK. For example, China Global Television Network (CGTN), which was previously available in the UK on Sky and Freesat, created a new European headquarters in London in 2019. However, in 2021, CGTN had its licence to broadcast in the UK suspended as the result of an Ofcom inquiry into its ownership, after it was found to have its editorial content directed by the CCP (a breach of Ofcom rules, which state that bodies wholly or mainly of a political nature, or those who are controlled by such bodies, are prohibited from holding a broadcasting licence).

Ofcom has also upheld complaints against CGTN on the broadcasting of forced confessions by Chinese detainees and political prisoners, and in relation to the impartiality of its reporting on Hong Kong. However, CGTN can still broadcast its UK content via its website, a YouTube Channel and internet TV platforms, such as Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire TV (which do not require a broadcast licence). CGTN is also seeking a broadcast licence in France where politically controlled broadcasters are permitted, and this would allow them to broadcast in the UK (under a convention to which the UK is a signatory, French TV channels can be broadcast in the UK with any content complaints going to the French regulator rather than Ofcom).

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Chinese journalists operating in the UK have notably displayed behaviours not typically acceptable in the UK media. For example, in September 2018, a CGTN journalist was arrested at the Conservative Party conference after slapping a delegate in the course of an argument about Hong Kong (the journalist had disrupted an event being run by the UK- based NGO Hong Kong Watch and shouted, "You guys are trying to separate China"). In a public statement following the arrest (released on the Chinese embassy's website), the television station said, "any attempt or action to divide China is futile and against the trend of history", and "we urge the UK side to take concrete steps to protect our journalist's legitimate rights and avoid such absurd incidents from happening again." The Chinese embassy also raised the matter with the FCDO at a working level, and again later when the case came to court; the FCDO firmly refuted any suggestion that it could influence the investigation. The journalist was later convicted of assault.

The case fits a pattern of the Chinese government robustly supporting Chinese nationals who 'stand up' for the perceived Chinese national interest, even when they break the law or