India's GDP growth hurt the dignity of UK: China's Global Times on BBC row

In what could come as a surprise to many, Chinese-state-run The Global Times has extended support to India while lashing out at the BBC second time in two days over its propaganda piece against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

West Disfavours Modi's Governing Style
In an article titled 'BBC as Western propaganda machine has been notorious long before India documentary saga', it said the GDP growth of India has hurt the ego of the UK and the news outlet as "a propaganda machine that serves the Western imperialism."

The BBC came up with the series against Indian PM as the West disfavored PM Modi's governing style and "the UK's unease toward the rapid development of India", a former colony of the UK, Song Luzheng, a research fellow at Fudan University, told The Global Times.

"The BBC, as a typical Western media outlet, claims to be objective and fact-based. Nonetheless, it's not reporting facts but doing opinion journalism. In essence, it's a propaganda machine that serves the Western imperialism. The BBC is not a news media outlet in the common sense, but a tool to attack other countries that the West does not see eye to eye with.

The BBC knows it is just a propaganda tool, but when it is confronted, it touts press freedom. When British politicians defend the BBC as a national treasure, they ignore the fact that this propaganda machine has long been infamous in other countries," the article said.

It then points out the bias shown by BBC over China.

West Bans Whatever Doesn't Fit Its Standards
According to the article, the West adopts its own set of values and standards that it only agrees with what fits their standards and bans whatever doesn't fit the standards. "In early 2021, the UK regulator ofcom revoked the broadcast license of the Chinese state broadcaster CGTN in the UK because of its coverage of the Hong Kong protests. When the UK suppressed Chinese media outlets using various excuses, why did it turn a blind eye to the fabrication and neglect of justice of its own media?" it questioned.

Song from Fudan University told the Chinese publication that the West will not reflect on its "double standards"."Rather, the West believes it is the rightful one. The hostility, extreme prejudice and neglect of professionalism of Western media reflects their arrogance and supremacist mentality," said Song.

India's Growth Hurt UK's Ego
Despite wooing India currently for geopolitical reasons, the fact that India's GDP last year exceeded that of the UK has hurt the dignity of the UK, especially due to the UK's imperialist mind-set over India, he said.

Nie Shujiang, an associate professor at the Guangming School of Journalism and Communication of China University of Political Science and Law, said, "The mainstream Western media, represented by the BBC, and the interest groups behind them are losing their long-held cultural taste and standard of values. Against the trend of 'the East is rising and the West is declining,' they resort to smear and deception to fool their own people and the international community," said Nie.

The article ends on the note that the international status of a country's media is determined by the strength of the country and its adherence to media ethics. "The BBC has lost the latter, and the UK is losing the former. The days when Western countries ask for economic benefits from developing countries while demanding them to be loyal to Western values are long gone," it concluded.

Two days ago, The Global Times in another story claimed that the BBC incidents show India cannot trust the West.

"The BBC can't be trusted, and India's authorities are correct to label it as "colonial propaganda," which as a lingering element of British Imperialism, sees itself as having a public duty to influence the country towards the "correct course."

The BBC World Service of course, is neither impartial nor is to be trusted. It was created to reassert British influence over former colonial nations following the decline of the empire, and during the tensions of the Cold War. It operates under the jurisdiction of the British Foreign Office, who fund it and control its editorial processes external to British domestic regulations, where localized programming is monitored by Ofcom," the article said.

BBC came up with two-part series 'India: The Modi Question' over Gujarat 2002 riots. The Indian government blocked the series despite the Opposition Parties cornering the government. The recent Income Tax surveys on the BBC's Mumbai and Delhi offices added fuel to the controversy.