CBC To Close Office In China After Failing To Get Employee Visa For Two Years - Statement

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) said on Wednesday it will close its office in Beijing after failing for two consecutive years to secure visas for its journalists

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd November, 2022) The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) said on Wednesday it will close its office in Beijing after failing for two consecutive years to secure visas for its journalists.

"There is no point keeping an empty bureau when we could easily set up elsewhere in a different country that welcomes journalists and respects journalistic scrutiny," CBC news editor-in-chief Brodie Fenlon said in a blog post.

According to Fenlon, the decision comes after "numerous exchanges and requests for meetings with the Chinese Consulate in Montreal" to secure a visa for Philippe Leblanc, a journalist with Radio-Canada.

The CBC's last Beijing correspondent, Saša Petricic, returned to Canada after lockdown in China amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"While there was no dramatic expulsion or pointed public statements, the effect is the same. We can't get visas for our journalists to work there as permanent correspondents," Fenlon wrote.

The closure of the CBC's bureau in Beijing will effectively be putting an end to over forty years of presence in China.

Earlier this year, the CBC also had to close its office in Moscow as a result of the Canadian government banning the broadcast of Russia Today (RT) and various other Russian state affiliated media in the country.