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National Post: Host on Chinese-language Station in Toronto Fired for Criticizing the CCP

According to the Canadian news media, the National Post, a talk-show host on a major Chinese-language radio station in Ontario says he was fired because, while on the radio, he questioned a pro-Beijing community leader .

Mr. Kenneth Yau was an unpaid guest host on the Fairchild Radio’s AM1430 station. He interviewed Simon Zhong, head of the Toronto Community and Culture Centre on September 30. Zhong is considered a China ally. Mr. Yau pressed Zhong to explain how he could both be “100 percent Canadian” and also respect the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

After the show, many pro-China listeners complained to the Toronto station. A few days later, the station let Mr. Yao go, using the reason that his on-air style was “too loud.”

Mr. Yau said he has also challenged Beijing’s stance on the Hong Kong protests, prompting threats from listeners to kill his family and rape his daughter. He also defended Canada’s arrest of a Huawei Technologies executive.

Mr. Yau thought that the station felt pressure both from advertisers who had connections with China and relatively recent immigrants who grew up on the mainland under Communist rule and were more loyal to the regime than those who came earlier from places such as Hong Kong.

The incident underscores what many Chinese Canadians see as a troubling reality: most of the media catering to their community are loath to say anything critical of Beijing.

That includes self-censoring topics that the Chinese government considers taboo, such as discrimination against the Falun Gong and human rights in Tibet.

Another host, Anita Lee, on Fairchild’s AM1740 station was let go after expressing support for protesters in Hong Kong. She played Glory to Hong Kong, the rousing anthem that the demonstrators have adopted, an ode to freedom, democracy, and human rights. After a barrage of complaints, Ms. Lee returned to work. Fairchild said she had simply left to spend more time with her children.

Source: National Host, October 8, 2019
Host on Chinese-language station in Toronto says he was fired for criticizing Beijing