A veteran BBC correspondent whose coverage angered China has left the country amid concerns for his safety, the BBC and a journalist organisation said.
The BBC said Wednesday that John Sudworth had relocated to Taiwan and would continue to be the British public broadcaster's China correspondent.
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China said that Sudworth had left last week amid concerns for his safety and that of his family.
The organisation said that Sudworth's wife, Yvonne Murray, a correspondent for Irish broadcaster RTE, had left with him.
John's work has exposed truths the Chinese authorities did not want the world to know, the BBC said in a statement posted on Twitter.
The BBC and Sudworth declined further comment.
Sudworth has reported from China for nine years. He won a George Polk Award last year for his reporting on internment camps for Muslims in the Xinjiang region. China says the camps were vocational training centers and denies any abuses.
China has held a series of news conferences to refute reports of human rights violations in Xinjiang by the BBC and other foreign media.
Chinese state media and officials have accused the British broadcaster of deliberate misinformation.
Sudworth left after months of personal attacks and disinformation targeting him and his BBC colleagues, the Foreign Correspondents' Club said.
These included videos posted online by state media that named him and used footage of him obtained from Chinese police cameras.
Pressure on foreign journalists working in China has increased in the past year. China expelled 18 journalists working for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post in 2020. Most were in response to U.S. moves to force Chinese state media to reduce their staff in America.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU