Story behind why China calls "BBC ‘Bad-mouthing Broadcasting Corporation"

Aiming at the BBC, Beijing issued a stinging statement on Thursday accusing the organization of disseminating "false news" and claiming that the organization was "naturally disliked" due to its coverage of deadly floods in central China.

In response to their reporting on the floods in the Chinese province of Henan, a British broadcaster claims that its reporters have been exposed to online abuse.

China's foreign ministry launched a scathing attack after the BBC called on the Chinese government to end the bullying of its reporters by conservatives who have accused international media of skewed reporting.

Last week, days of severe rain in Henan the province saw record flooding claiming the lives of at least 99 persons.

The BBC stated that their diluvian reporters were subject to hostility online, while others were harassed in "attacks which still threaten international journalists" on the ground.

But on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Minister Zhao Lijian dubbed the channel "a bad-mouthing broadcasting company" that "attacks and smears China, straying significantly from the journalistic standards."

Zhao stated that the BBC earned its "unpopularity among the Chinese populace" and that "because there's no such issue as unjustified hostility."

The word battle began on Tuesday after the ruling Chinese Communist Party's youth branch made online comments asking its 1,6 million supporters to monitor BBC reporters' activities.

The remarks by the Henan Communist Youth League triggered death threats from nationalist online users to BBC correspondents.

Last week, Zhengzhou received a year's worth of rain in three days, killing 14 people and trapping over 500 commuters in flooded subways during rush hour.

Officials from the city and province have faced calls for responsibility, with the wife from one of the subway fatalities informing local media that she intends to sue the metro administration for negligence.

AFP reporters were forced to remove the film by the hostile citizens of Zhengzhou and were mobbed by dozens of guys reporting on an overgrown tunnel.

On Thursday, Zhao stated "the open and unfettered reporting environment in China's foreign journalists."

Western news organizations have long been accused of anti-China prejudice by officials and the state media.