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BBC still taking money from sanctioned Huawei

WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images

Things are tough these days at the BBC: stars are leaving, budgets are tight and the licence fee future looking uncertain. Still, in their desperation to plug some holes, it seems the Beeb has developed some questionable new corporate partnerships. One of them is with Huawei, the Chinese tech giant which was sanctioned by the US in 2019 and barred from the UK’s 5G network in 2020 over security concerns. Since then, the controversial company has been alleged to have aided the Chinese authorities in creating surveillance technology that targets the country’s Uyghur minority population.

But all that’s not enough to deter the BBC, which is still taking Huawei’s money to fund its overseas journalism. Adverts displayed on BBC.com this week show adverts paid and presented by Huawei boasting about ‘The new frontier of education: How can we bridge the education gap and bring bright young minds into the digital future?’ The adverts gush how ‘UNESCO and Huawei are focused on closing the digital divide’ and writes glowingly about Huawei’s tech initiatives. Such content though is only available to overseas readers as UK visitors to the site are greeted with a message which says ‘We’re Sorry! This site is not accessible from the UK as it is part of our international service and is not funded by the licence fee.’

The content was made by the BBC’s sponsored content team, StoryWorks. When the partnership was first announced three years ago, BBC reporters were horrified, with one telling Buzzfeed ‘I nearly threw up.’ A current employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Steerpike that they were ‘shocked’ that the BBC was still taking money from a company with such close ties to the Chinese state ‘when it was us [the Corporation] who exposed the Chinese abuse in Uyghur camps last year.’

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Steerpike
Written by
Steerpike

Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

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