The BBC has set up a ’special’ site for China users, which will not display news that is offensive to the Chinese Communist Party. While Google, MSN and Yahoo can probably claim to be acting in the interest of shareholders, is this what UK citizens expect from a public broadcaster that lives off license fees?:

The BBC World Service has launched a website targeted at the mainland Chinese market, offering English-language training and news that is unlikely to upset Beijing’s internet censors.
China has long blocked access to the British broadcaster’s main Chinese website, www.BBCChinese.com, which yesterday led with a story about US forecasts that Beijing’s suppression of dissent could undermine national stability.

By contrast, the top item on the broadcaster’s new www.BBCChina.com.cn site was a Chinese-language news story on the much less sensitive topic – to Beijing officials at least – about the row surrounding cartoon images of the Prophet Mohammed.

There are other Western media that have set up China services and this really changes little about the media environment in China. However, as AsiaPundit noted with the Google.cn launch, this demonstrates an inability to read current public opinion and really hurts brand credibility.

UPDATE: A commenter noted that the articles were inaccessible on the self-censored BBC site. Connectivity seems to be restored. Ironically, one of the Beeb’s top stories is on how the Rolling Stones self-censored two songs at their Superbowl performance (English here):

Imagine, a British institution like the Rolling Stones, which once had a reputation for daring and challenging authorities, succumbing to self-censorship on behalf of foreigners for what must be only a few quid in the grand scheme of things.
How ironic. The Beeb is right to give this story the attention it deserves.

(UPDATE 2: AsiaPundit apologizes to the Rolling Stones. Their performance was censored by the US ABC television network and they did not self-censor. As AsiaPundit noted, it would be very sad indeed if a respected British institution would self-censor just for a small bit of money in a foreign market. AsiaPundit regrets any offense he has caused Keith Richards, Mick Jagger and the rest of the band. Unlike some aging institutions, the Rolling Stones still have balls.)

(UPDATE 3: AsiaPundit was speaking with the BBC today. The spokesman said that the FT had misrepresented the nature of the website which, he said, was an educational site and not a news site. He said the news on the site was intended to be UK-related news that reflected British culture and was not intended to be an international news site. The Beeb has responded to the FT in a letter, reproduced below. (click on graphic for larger, readable, image.)

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