** 31-Mar-2021 World View: BBC China reporter John Sudworth and family flee to Taiwan
The BBC's Beijing correspondent John Sudworth has taken his family and
fled to Taiwan, after "massive surveillance, obstruction and
intimidation" from Chinese authorities.
Sudworth has been particularly effective in reporting China's ongoing
genocide, ethnic cleansing, and enslavement of the Muslim Uighurs in
East Turkestan (Xinjiang province), through the use of leaked
documents, interviews, and satellite photos. Sudworth has also
reported extensively on other human rights issues, including religious
persecution and brutality in Hong Kong, and so the events surrounding
the spread of the Wuhan Coronavirus.
The Chinese Communists have become angrier and more defensive about
such reporting. It used to be that the Communists could make some
mealy-mouthed excuse and the useful idiots in the Western media would
simply report it as fact. But today, there are few useful idiots
left, and almost nobody believes anything that the Communists say, and
that is infuriating the Communists, since their entire foreign policy
depends on having everything they say, no matter how ridiculous, be
believed without question.
The same has been true about the Wuhan Coronavirus. The Communists
tried to blame it on a plant by the US army, but no one believed that.
Then they tried to blame it on frozen food imports from other
countries, but no one believes that either. Today the debate is
whether the virus escaped from a Chinese virology lab, where it had
been created. This is still under debate, but nobody believes
anything the Communists say on the subject.
The Communists have been having increasingly hostile reactions to the
mere mention of any of these issues, and they're striking out in any
way possible, using bribery, extortion, detention, intimidation, or
other tools.. Australia's government announced that it wanted an
international investigation of the source of the Wuhan Coronavirus,
and China is boycotting Australia wine and other products.
Economic boycotts are standard fare. Swedish firm Hennes & Mauritz AB
(H&M) is the world's second largest fashion retailer, with 505 stores
across China. Last year, a statement on its web site said that it was
“deeply concerned by reports from civil society organizations and
media that include accusations of forced labor and discrimination of
ethnoreligious minorities." This resulted in a boycott, forcing the
shutdown of many H&M stores in China, and removal of H&M from
e-commerce platforms. H&M has removed the statement from its web
site, but that isn't enough for the Communists. A CCP post says, "Why
doesn’t H&M apologize openly to consumers?", and a Chinese Commerce
Ministry spokesman said, "We can’t tolerate any forces bringing shame
on and tarnishing the pure and flawless Xinjiang cotton." Other
Western brands including Burberry, Nike and Adidas have also been hit
by consumer boycotts in China for raising similar concerns.
These actions by the Communists have been getting more belligerent as
time goes on. It's extended to a number of journalists.
Last year, China expelled at least 18 foreign correspondents from the
New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post as a
diplomatic row deepened between Beijing and Washington. In the last
few months, several journalists have been arrested without
explanation.
Lately, John Sudworth has been increasingly intimidated and threatened
with lawsuits for his reporting about the Uighurs. The threat of
lawsuits was a suggestion that he was about to have his passport taken
so that he couldn't leave the country.
Thus, he and his family packed hurriedly and fled to the airport. As
he was fleeing, he was tailed by police and followed through the
airport. He left with his wife, Yvvone Murray, China correspondent
for Irish broadcaster RTE, and their three young children. They are
now in Taiwan, where he continues as BBC China correspondent.
His sudden departure apparently caught the Communists by surprise.
State media was bitterly critical, saying that he "faces potential
lawsuits for slanderous reports" for fake news, and that he left
"without notification," and "is now believed to be hiding in Taiwan
island." My guess is that a lot of people in Beijing are furious that
he got away before they could confiscate his passport or jail him.
Sudworth has been reporting from China since 2012, the year that Xi
Jinping was appointed as general secretary of the Chinese Communist
Party. According to Sudworth, "President Xi has used China's already
rigid political system to tighten control over almost every aspect of
society, and 10 years into his now open-ended tenure, it is the media
landscape that has emerged as the defining battleground."
---- Sources:
-- BBC China correspondent John Sudworth moves to Taiwan after threats
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-56586655
(BBC, 31-Mar-2021)
-- 'The grim reality of reporting in China that pushed me out’ By John
Sudworth
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-56607815
(BBC, 1-Apr-2021)
-- BBC reporter John Sudworth hides in Taiwan island after Xinjiang
individuals plan to sue BBC for fake news: source
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202103/1219922.shtml
(Global Times, Beijing, 31-Mar-2021)
-- BBC reporter John Sudworth faces potential lawsuits for slanderous
reports, leaves without notification
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202104/1220021.shtml
(Global Times, Beijing, 1-Apr-2021)
-- BBC journalist John Sudworth leaves China over safety concerns
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/0 ... -concerns/
(Telegraph, London, 31-Mar-2021)
-- BBC journalist leaves China after Beijing criticises Uighurs
coverage
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... s-coverage
(Guardian, London, 31-Mar-2021)
-- China's Threat to Free Speech in Europe
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/1721 ... ech-europe
(Gatestone, 31-Mar-2021)
-- H&M vows to rebuild trust in China after Xinjiang backlash
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-h-m- ... SKBN2BN0LV
(Reuters, 31-Mar-2021)
-- Hennes & Mauritz AB / H&M Stores Shuttered in China as Backlash
Over Xinjiang Grows
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... iang-grows
(Bloomberg, 27-Mar-2021)