Chiswick-based Broadcaster Challenged Over Forced Confessions

Chinese state TV should not be licensed by OFCOM says Peter Humphrey

The Chinese state broadcaster CGTN, which is planning a major expansion from its Chiswick office should not be licensed by OFCOM, says a former Reuters journalist who was forced to make a confession on the channel.

Peter Humphrey was working as an investigator on behalf of Glaxo Smith Kline in 2013 as part of an internal inquiry into claims of corruption at the company’s operations in China. He was detained by the authorities along with his wife and accused of illegally obtaining the personal information of a Chinese individual. He was made to make a confession and an apology on state television wearing an orange vest from a Shanghai police station during his detention which lasted nearly two years. He said he was sedated prior to the broadcast.

He was only released following increased diplomatic pressure and concerns about his health. He developed cancer during his stay in jail which was not properly treated. Prior to his release he was detained in a hotel and on his departure he was presented with a bill for his stay by the Chinese police.

CGTN is the international division of the Chinese state broadcaster and provides a 24-hour news service that broadcasts mainly in English, but has programmes in Spanish, French, Arabic, and Russian. It was reportedly part of an effort to rebrand six of China's state-owned channels. The network's existing regional headquarters are in Beijing, Washington, DC, and Nairobi but it has taken a substantial amount of space in Chiswick Business Park and is actively recruiting new staff. Back in June it said that it was hoping to bring in 350 London based journalists for its European hub at the location. At the time their plan was to be starting operations out of London by December 2018, with a launch workforce of a dozen executives and more than 60 journalists.

Mr Humphrey says that, as forced confessions of alleged criminals are regularly broadcast on CGTN, they should have their licence to broadcast from the UK revoked. He has filed an official complaint against China Central Television and its international division, China Global Television, for violating British broadcasting rules. In 2012, the licence of Iranian owned Press TV was revoked following a complaint from Newsweek journalist Maziar Bahari that they had aired an interview with him while he was being detained and being threatened with execution if he did not comply.

Safeguard Defenders, a human rights group based in Sweden that campaigns on this issue says that the Chinese state broadcaster has shown more than 100 forced confessions since they started documenting them. At least 8 of these have been shown on the free-to-air channel broadcast into the UK. The founder of the organisation Peter Dahlin, who says he was also forced to make a confession on state TV, says the channel’s journalists are actively engaged in the reports and not forced to broadcast them by the police.

Reportedly, Ofcom has said it is investigating the complaint and would "take necessary enforcement action" if it finds any of its rules have been violated.

This is not the only case of a Chiswick Business Park tenant with associations with a repressive regime. Earlier this month the Guardian reported that Iran International TV had been set up through companies with ties to Prince Mohammed bin Salman. There are widespread allegations that the prince was behind the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

November 25, 2018