In this Oct 30, 2017 photo, people pass the entrance of the headquarters of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in London. (Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP)

LONDON/BRUSSELS - The decision by China's broadcasting regulator to pull BBC World News off the air in the country for serious content violation was "legitimate and reasonable," a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Britain said Friday.

The spokesperson made the statement one day after British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that the decision by China's National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) to ban BBC World News in China's mainland "is an unacceptable curtailing of media freedom."

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The embassy spokesperson said that for quite some time, BBC reports on China have gravely violated China's radio and television regulations and regulations on overseas satellite channels in China's mainland.

BBC's relentless fabrication of "lies of the century" in reporting China runs counter to the professional ethics of journalism, and reeks of double standards and ideological bias, causing strong indignation among the Chinese people.

Spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Britain

"BBC's serious violation of broadcasting rules on accuracy and impartiality has undermined China's national interests and ethnic unity and failed to meet the requirements for overseas channels to broadcast in China's mainland," said the spokesperson.

As such, BBC World News is not allowed to continue its service in China's mainland, and the NRTA will not accept its broadcast application this year, said the spokesperson.

"BBC's relentless fabrication of 'lies of the century' in reporting China runs counter to the professional ethics of journalism, and reeks of double standards and ideological bias, causing strong indignation among the Chinese people," said the spokesperson.

The so-called "media freedom" is nothing but a pretext and disguise to churn out disinformation and slanders against other countries, said the spokesperson, adding that all countries without exception exercise necessary supervision over media organizations and the NRTA's decision is "legitimate and reasonable".

"We urge BBC to abandon the Cold War mentality, stop fabricating and spreading disinformation, stop unfair, biased and irresponsible reporting, stop malicious attacks and smearing against the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government, and take concrete actions to remove the adverse impact of its related reports," said the spokesperson.

China's broadcasting regulator on Thursday made an announcement on pulling BBC World News off the air in the country for serious content violation.

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"As the channel fails to meet the requirements to broadcast in China as an overseas channel, BBC World News is not allowed to continue its service within Chinese territory. The NRTA will not accept the channel's broadcast application for the new year," the regulator said in a statement.

Double standards shall not be applied to fighting disinformation

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Chinese Mission to the European Union (EU) said that BBC World News has undermined China's national interests and ethnic solidarity, highlighting that "double standards shall not be applied to fighting disinformation."

The Chinese envoy made the remarks in response to an EU statement on the BBC ban in China. Earlier Friday, the European External Action Service (EEAS) issued a statement, saying that the Chinese authorities' decision to ban BBC World News is a move by China restricting so-called "freedom of expression and access to information."

The freedom of press under double standards can only be seen as freedom of disinformation.

Spokesperson for the Chinese Mission to the European Union

Asked to comment on the EEAS statement, the spokesperson noted investigations show that BBC World News "has seriously violated China's regulations on radio and television services and on overseas satellite TV channel management in its China-related reports which went against the requirements that news reporting must be truthful and impartial, and has undermined China's national interests and ethnic solidarity."

ALSO READ: BBC World News banned from broadcasting in China

As the channel fails to meet the requirements to broadcast in China as an overseas channel, China's NRTA has decided not to allow BBC World News to continue its broadcasting service within Chinese territory, and will not accept the channel's broadcasting application for the new year, said the spokesperson.

Stressing that "truthfulness, objectivity and impartiality are fundamental requirements for news reporting and important prerequisites for media freedom," the envoy said that "double standards shall not be applied to fighting disinformation. The freedom of press under double standards can only be seen as freedom of disinformation."

"I want to point out that RTHK, as a public broadcaster in Hong Kong, has decided to pull the relevant BBC programs off the air in accordance with the NRTA's communication," the envoy said, adding that the EU side "has no right to use it as a pretext to make irresponsible comments on the Hong Kong National Security Law."