BBC's Race Across the World accused of ignoring Chinese brutality

Telegraph

01-05-2025

The BBC's Race Across the World programme has been accused of ignoring the brutality of the Chinese government.
Contestants have returned to the country for the latest series of the game show, in which teams attempt to travel long distances between locations without using air travel.
The programme had previously not been filmed in the communist country since its first series aired in 2019.
But now, on its return, concerns have been raised that the show has been ignoring the violence and oppression of the ruling regime.
One segment in the latest series showed contestants in the town of Huangling. They were filmed marvelling at the picturesque surroundings, tiled rooftops and chillies drying on unique wooden platforms.
One of those taking part said: 'This is what I think of when I think of China '.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative Party leader, said: 'The reality is there's not much point having a programme which has China without talking about the Chinese Communist Party and their brutality.'
Accusing the party of 'committing a genocide', he added: 'It is a country that has carried out endless exercises threatening the existence of Taiwan and it is a country that has really rapaciously bought and run mines and others in third-world and developing countries.
'If the BBC does something in China, they should put that up front and centre and say this is the country that you are going to compete in.
'It's not just another country, it is a country that poses a significant threat to the very existence of the BBC and the things that we stand for.'
Luke de Pulford, a human rights campaigner who founded the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said: 'Entertainment should not come at the cost of ignoring the realities faced by millions, from Uyghurs in forced labour camps to suppressing civil society voices.
'Glossing over these issues risks helping Beijing whitewash its global image.'
Race Across the World is made by production company Studio Lambert. It said that standard agreements were made with the Chinese authorities in order to film in the country.
A Studio Lambert spokesman said: 'As is the case with filming throughout the series, filming permissions were put in place.
'We experienced no difference with filming in China than in any of the other countries Race Across the World has travelled through.'
Contestants in the latest series have been tasked with travelling from northern China to the southernmost tip of India, via Nepal.
China was not included in the programme's Asia-based series in 2024 because of continuing Covid-19 travel restrictions.
A spokesman for Race Across the World said it was a 'factual entertainment show that aims to explore culture and everyday life through the eyes of those we follow in the race and the people and challenges they meet on the route.'
They added: 'Our focus is on human connection and storytelling, rather than geopolitical commentary.'
The popular series, which offers a £20,000 prize for the winning team, won a television Bafta award in 2020 for best reality or factual show.