The Chinese Foreign Ministry summoned Caroline Wilson, the British ambassador to Beijing, on Tuesday (March 9) to make what it called a “solemn representation” over an article she published, but she issued a letter saying she stood by the points made in her article.
British Ambassador’s article on media freedom angers Chinese Communist Party
On March 2, Wu Ruolan published an article entitled “Do Foreign Media Hate China?” on the official WeChat of the British Embassy in Beijing. in an article titled “Do foreign media hate China? The article bluntly accused the Chinese Communist Party of suppressing speech and surnaming the media as the Party, introduced media freedom in the UK, and ended with a quote from the motto of the French newspaper Le Figaro: “If criticism is not free, praise is meaningless.”
The article angered the CCP, with WeChat restricting the article from being shared, and official CCP media attacking Wu Ruolan, with China Daily, Global Times and others taking turns claiming that her reporting distorted “the true relationship between media and reality.”
British politician and human rights activist Benedict Rogers tweeted about the incident on March 3, saying, “The Chinese Communist regime and its ‘wolf warfare’ approach, attacking even its friends and persuaders, is a wake-up call for everyone.”
“I defend my article.”
As the incident festered, the Chinese Foreign Ministry summoned Wu Ruolan on the 9th, saying her article was full of “master teacher”-style arrogance and ideological bias, reversing black and white, manipulating double standards, and “seriously inconsistent with the status of diplomats and the functions of diplomatic institutions.” He even asked Wu Ruolan to “reflect deeply”.
After being summoned by the Chinese Communist Party, Wu tweeted, “I defend my article (views). No doubt the outgoing CCP ambassador to the UK (Liu Xiaoming) also insists he is free to publish over 170 articles in the British mainstream media.”
I stand by my article. no doubt the outgoing Chinese Ambassador to the UK stands by the 170+ pieces he was free to place in mainstream British media. https://t.co/AgkynfJM36
- Caroline Wilson (@CWilson_FCDO) March9,2021
This is a new example of the tensions between the UK and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) spilling over into diplomacy, with relations between the two countries deteriorating over the CCP’s concealment of the Epidemic, Beijing’s push for a so-called “Hong Kong version of the National Security Law“, the UK’s provision of asylum to Hong Kong people, criticism of the CCP’s persecution of the Xinjiang people, and the revocation of the licence of the CCP’s major foreign service CGTN.
These frictions have spilled over into media access. The Financial Times reported that Ofcom decided on March 8 to fine CGTN’s licensee 225,000 pounds for violating fairness, privacy and impartiality rules. When Ofcom revoked CGTN’s broadcasting license in the UK last month, the Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed its “firm opposition” and urged the British side to “immediately rectify the mistake.
What exactly did Wu Ruolan say?
Wu Ruolan used the official WeChat public number of the embassy in Beijing to publish “Do Foreign Media Hate China? The article is euphemistic in tone, explaining the role of the British media in monitoring society and implicitly telling the Chinese Communist Party what role the media should play.
Here are some excerpts from her article.
In this article, I will explain why the foreign media’s criticism of the Chinese (CCP) authorities does not mean that they dislike China. On the contrary, I believe they act in good faith and play an active role as watchdogs of government actions, ensuring that people have access to accurate information and protecting those who do not have a voice.
In the UK, journalists can interview politicians on any topic and ask them pointed questions. This interviewing technique dates back to ancient Greece, where they developed a form of reasoning called Socratic dialogue, which seeks the truth through a series of answers to questions.
The British media also carry out investigative work to expose wrongdoing and give a voice to minorities.
The Chinese media have also been able to provide critical reporting in keeping with the principle of “public opinion monitoring”. For example, during the outbreak of Xin Guan (the Chinese Communist virus), more than 30 Caixin journalists conducted investigations to expose how local authorities suppressed whistle-blowing doctors and concealed the fact that the virus could be “passed from person to person”.
Unlike foreign media, however, Chinese media could only report critically as much as the government allowed. As Communist Party leaders said in 2016, “Media sponsored by the Party and the government must be named Party.”
In 2015, former CCTV reporter Chai Jing released Under the Dome, a documentary about air pollution in China. Seventy percent of those who watched the documentary said it changed their Perception of the haze and gave a more holistic view of the problem. The People’s Daily also published the documentary on its official website, but it was removed within a week.
Wherever in the world, critical reporting does not prove that journalists don’t like the country. On the contrary, it proves the value of media freedom to bring more accurate information and point out what needs to be changed. As the motto of the French newspaper Le Figaro says: If criticism is not free, praise is meaningless.
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