A BBC journalist was allegedly assaulted and detained while covering a protest in China’s Shanghai yesterday, reported News Laundry. The journalist, Ed Lawrence, works for BBC’s China bureau.
BBC issued a statement saying Lawrence was “arrested and handcuffed” and “held for several hours”. “During his arrest, he was beaten and kicked by the police,” the statement alleged.
The statement said there was “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”. BBC said this was not a “credible explanation”.
Meanwhile, huge protests continue across many cities in China. In an unprecedented show of defiance against the zero-Covid policy, protestors are even heard chanting “Step down, Xi Jinping! Step down, Communist Party,” according to a report by CNN.
Protests have taken place in Shanghai for the last three days over Covid restrictions. Protests were also reported in Wuhan, Beijing and other cities with hundreds taking to the streets. China reported 39,791 new Covid cases, of which 36,082 were asymptomatic, on 26 November