After backlash, ANC stops airing Chinese language newscast
MANILA, Philippines — Following heavy backlash on social media, ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) has ended its partnership with Chinatown News TV (CNTV) and will no longer air the Mandarin-language newscast.
CNTV no longer aired Thursday evening on ANC and instead broadcast its episode on its own Facebook page.
Prior to this, ABS-CBN Integrated News and Current Affairs chief Ging Reyes defended the airing of CNTV on ANC, saying the show was produced by Filipinos with the goal of serving the Filipino-Chinese community.
She also assured that ABS-CBN retained editorial control over their content, despite a disclaimer appearing at the beginning of the show stating that the views of the anchors and producers of the newscast do not necessarily reflect the policies and position of the network.
CNTV, previously named Chinese News TV, stated on its website that it aims to promote Filipino-Chinese culture, keep the public informed on current events in the Philippines and abroad, and spread China’s ambitious “One Belt, One Road” infrastructure project that aims to link East Asia to Europe.
Mentions of it spreading the One Belt, One Road initiative have been removed from their website after Rappler first reported on the partnership between CNTV and ANC.
The newscast is produced by Horizon of the Sun Communications Inc., the same production company behind the Filipino-Chinese lifestyle show Chinatown TV.
Chinatown TV co-produced the much frowned upon music video for “Iisang Dagat,” a song penned by Chinese Ambassador to Manila Huang Xilian which is supposedly a tribute for COVID-19 frontliners, but was widely perceived to be propaganda for Beijing’s continued presence in the West Philippine Sea.
Chinatown News previously aired on state-run IBC13 and Iglesia ni Cristo-owned NET25 before it began airing on ANC last Monday.
ABS-CBN drew the ire of President Rodrigo Duterte over its alleged bias in its coverage of the 2016 elections and its failure to air his campaign ad.
Regulators shut down ABS-CBN’s main channel last year for lacking a franchise. A Duterte-allied House of Representatives sealed the fate of the media giant after it rejected its application for a fresh license.
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