Anger at BBC after Chinese tech lit up coronation show

A row has erupted over Chinese-made wristbands given out at the concert at Windsor Castle celebrating the King’s coronation

- ARCHIE MITCHELL

The BBC, which organised the event, came under fire for buying the light-emitting wristbands because of China’s woeful human rights record and the ongoing Uyghur genocide.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the wristbands should not have been bought from a country “guilty of genocide and slave labour”. He criticised BBC Studios for the decision and said they should have been bought from a British company.

A crowd of 20,000 revellers gathered at the castle on 7 May, the day after the coronation, to watch acts including Katy Perry and Lionel Richie. Concertgoers were given electronic wristbands which were used to mimic the effect of crowds at rock concerts sparking lighters.

But eyebrows were raised because the wristbands were manufactured in China – a country which MPs have said is guilty of committing genocide. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims have been detained in mass internment camps in the Xinjiang province since 2017.

Sir Iain, a former Tory leader, told The Independent that the BBC – which organised the concert – should have “gone elsewhere” to buy the wristbands. And Labour MP Marie Rimmer said the coronation “would have been a perfect time” to show less dependence on China.