Britain’s
ambassador to China has been summoned for a dressing down by the authorities in
Beijing over an “inappropriate” article she wrote defending recent
international media coverage on the country, the foreign ministry said.
Caroline
Wilson’s article in Chinese was posted on the official WeChat account of the
British embassy in Beijing last week, amid already tense relations between
Britain and China over issues including Hong Kong, Xinjiang and the media.
Wilson sought
to explain why foreign media criticism of the Chinese government did not mean the
journalists responsible did not like China, but were in fact acting in “good
faith” and playing an active role in monitoring government action.
In a
statement, China’s Foreign Ministry said the Chinese government and people had
never opposed foreign media, rather those who make up “fake news” to attack
China and its ruling Communist Party under the banners of press freedom and
freedom of speech.
“The whole
article is full of ‘lecturer’ arrogance and ideological prejudice ... and is
seriously inconsistent with the status of diplomats,” it added in remarks
attributed to the head of the ministry’s Europe department.
The UK Foreign
Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.