Britain’s television watchdog is expected to announce on Monday that China’s state television channel severely violated British broadcasting rules by airing a forced confession of a UK citizen, the Telegraph understands. China’s state broadcaster, which airs in English in the UK as CGTN, is likely to face sanctions, decided in a separate process by Ofcom, which could include hefty fines or being stripped of its broadcast license as a result of the investigation launched May 2019. The ruling could escalate diplomatic tensions between the UK and China at a time when MPs have become more vocal in pressing for a re-think of bilateral relations. The original complaint to Ofcom, filed by Briton Peter Humphrey, focused on a confession forced under duress from him by Chinese authorities in 2013. Mr Humphrey told the Telegraph in an interview last year that he was drugged and handcuffed to an iron chair inside a steel cage. Six uniformed police officers sat at a podium while the lead interrogator read questions from a clipboard and instructed Mr Humphrey how to answer, he said. A heavily edited version made to look like a news ‘interview’ with a bombshell ‘confession’ was broadcast around the world on CGTN, and other channels under parent Chinese state media organisation, CCTV – including in the UK. “They twisted things,” Mr Humphrey previously told the Telegraph. “It was terrifying; all along, I knew I was innocent and that I was being falsely accused. I also knew that I had no way to escape.”
