(TibetanReview.net, Feb06’21) – Although neither side talked about it at that time, it has now emerged that Great Britain expelled three Chinese spies who were in the country by claiming to be journalists for their state run media. They had arrived under journalism visas but were believed to be working for the Ministry of State Security, part of China’s intelligence apparatus, reported the telegraph.co.uk Feb 4.
The revelation came after Britain’s regulatory authority Ofcom on Feb 4 revoked the licence of the Chinese state television broadcaster CGTN to operate in the UK. The broadcasting regulator said the company that had the licence did not have day-to-day control over the channel which was against the rules. Besides, the broadcaster was already under investigation for its editorial policy which did not meet with its standards of balance and fairness in its coverage.
The revocation decision was not linked to the reports about the three Chinese journalists, noted the bbc.com Feb 6.
And the spy-journalists’ departure was low-key and did not come in the past few months, the report said.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was “firmly opposed” to Ofcom’s ruling.
China has also sought to fault BBC’s Jan 29 coverage about the coronavirus, saying that it had “linked the pandemic to politics” and “rehashed theories about covering up by China”.
BBC has rejected the criticism; but China vowed to act on its claim, apparently to get back on Britain for the loss of CGTN’s licence.
