CGTN loses UK license; 2021 priorities for the security services; WHO investigation; Corporate debt

The UK may be soon be sharing a doghouse with Australia and Canada.

Denunciations of Hong Kong policies, changes to the BN(O) passport treatment and recent BBC reporting on the early days of the pandemic in Wuhan and the situation in Xinjiang have angered the PRC government.

Today’s decision by the UK broadcast regulator to revoke CGTN’s broadcast license in the UK has only added to the anger, even though CGTN can still deliver its content in the UK and globally over Youtube, Facebook and Twitter.

How the PRC government will retaliate is unclear, but it will retaliate, and I would not be surprised to see some or all of the BBC foreign journalists expelled. Worse could certainly be in the cards, as Beijing can not let yet another Five Eyes member misunderstand its standing relative to the PRC.

Coincidentally, a former British diplomat, Charles Parton, has written a long piece for Sinocism - China - A Look Ahead to 2021 and Beyond - based on a close reading of the 5th Plenum Communique a…