BBC journalist leaves China, citing threats, obstruction

BEIJING (Reuters) – The British Broadcasting Corp. said on Wednesday one of its journalists in China had relocated to Taiwan, a move that comes amid criticism from Beijing of its reports on alleged human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang region.

The journalist, John Sudworth, told BBC radio he moved with his family because it had become increasingly difficult to remain in the country. He had been under surveillance, faced threats of legal action, obstruction and intimidation, he said.

“We left in a hurry, followed by plainclothes police all the way to the airport through the check-in. The true grim reality for reporters here being made clear all the way to the very end,” he told the BBC.

China’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said Sudworth had not given any notice of his departure, and it strongly condemned the BBC’s reporting on Xinjiang, COVID-19 and Hong Kong.

“We never threatened him,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular daily news briefing. “We don’t know why he left, because he didn’t say goodbye.”

Announcing Sudworth’s move, the BBC said in a statement that he remains its China correspondent.

“John’s work has exposed truth the Chinese authorities did not want the world to know,” it said.

Last month, China barred the BBC World News from being aired in response to what the Chinese Embassy in London called “relentless fabrication of ‘lies of the century’ in reporting China.”