(Quartz Media)- When a car bomb ripped through a market in Mogadishu on Sunday, killing at least 30 people, China’s state broadcaster in Africa, quickly covered the story.
But CGTN, the newly rebranded international version of CCTV, made one notable mistake. A map shown by CGTN Africa showed Somaliland, a breakaway region in northern Somalia, as a separate state.
The broadcaster reacted with a lengthy apology on its Twitter page. “This is incorrect and we would like to apologize to all our followers from Somalia that it is not CGTN Africa’s intention to divide people of the great continent of Africa.” The apology added, “We would also like to categorically state that the wrong map was a mistake by one of our editors and DOES NOT in any way reflect the STANDPOINT of the Chinese government.”
China, which has faced calls for independence in Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet, as well as the self-ruled island of Taiwan that Beijing claims is still part of China, does not generally support independence movements elsewhere in the world. And like the rest of the international community, it does not recognize Somaliland, which declared itself independent from Somalia in 1991.
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But CGTN, the newly rebranded international version of CCTV, made one notable mistake. A map shown by CGTN Africa showed Somaliland, a breakaway region in northern Somalia, as a separate state.
The broadcaster reacted with a lengthy apology on its Twitter page. “This is incorrect and we would like to apologize to all our followers from Somalia that it is not CGTN Africa’s intention to divide people of the great continent of Africa.” The apology added, “We would also like to categorically state that the wrong map was a mistake by one of our editors and DOES NOT in any way reflect the STANDPOINT of the Chinese government.”
China, which has faced calls for independence in Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet, as well as the self-ruled island of Taiwan that Beijing claims is still part of China, does not generally support independence movements elsewhere in the world. And like the rest of the international community, it does not recognize Somaliland, which declared itself independent from Somalia in 1991.
Follow @Medeshi
Share
