Canada Broadcaster CBC Shuts Down China Bureau

Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) says it is closing its China bureau after Beijing ignored requests to base a reporter in Beijing, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Photo Insert: CBC said its applications had been met “by months-long silence from Chinese officials.”

CBC said its applications had been met “by months-long silence from Chinese officials.” The broadcaster’s last correspondent left Beijing as China closed down amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

The bureau, located in one of Beijing’s high-security diplomatic compounds, had remained open in anticipation of restaffing.

China has taken an increasingly hard line in foreign relations, and ties with Canada nosedived after China, the US and Canada completed what was effectively a high-stakes prisoner swap last year involving a top executive from Chinese tech giant Huawei who had been charged with fraud by the US.

China jailed two Canadians shortly after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, Huawei Technologies’ chief financial officer and the daughter of the company’s founder, on a US extradition request. They were sent back to Canada in September, the same day Meng returned to China after reaching a deal with US authorities in her case.

Many countries labeled China’s action “hostage politics,” while China has described the charges against Huawei and Meng as a politically motivated attempt to hold back China’s economic and technological development.

Canada has banned wireless carriers from installing Huawei equipment in its high-speed 5G networks, joining allies in shunning the company that has close links with the ruling Communist Party and its military wing, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

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