Journalist dragged, kicked, cuffed for covering protest in China, released later: Report

As China witnessed widespread protest against stringent Covid control measures, British news broadcaster BBC on Sunday claimed that China’s police assaulted and detained one of its journalists covering the protest in Shanghai.

According to the BBC, the reporter was handcuffed while covering the protest rally in Shanghai. However, he was released after a few hours.

“The BBC is extremely concerned about the treatment of our journalist Ed Lawrence, who was arrested and handcuffed while covering the protests in Shanghai,” a spokesperson for the British public service broadcaster was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters.

“We have had no official explanation or apology from the Chinese authorities, beyond a claim by the officials who later released him that they had arrested him for his own good in case he caught COVID from the crowd,” the BBC said.

Hundreds of people took to the streets in Beijing and Shanghai on Sunday to protest against China’s zero-Covid policy in a rare outpouring of public anger against the state. China’s hardline virus strategy is stoking public frustration, with many growing weary of snap lockdowns, lengthy quarantines and mass testing campaigns.