Protests Across China; BBC journalist brutally beaten by police

The BBC’s reporter Edward Lawrence was arrested by the police in Shanghai, China on Sunday. BBC released the news along with the footage that the police brutally beat him at the protest site at night and did not even give him adequate treatment. The footage of the arrest captured on a mobile phone has now been released.

A BBC journalist was arrested and beaten by the police and detained for several hours while reporting on the popular protest against the strict Covid restrictions imposed by the Chinese government. But the BBC also reported that it has not received an official explanation or apology from the Chinese authorities.

After the news, the media worker was released by the police. The popular agitation against the zero-covid policy implemented by the communist government in China is getting stronger in the country. The police took Lawrence into custody while reporting the public protest. A BBC spokesperson responded by saying the reporter had been punched and kicked by the police and there were concerns for his health. Thousands take to the streets to demand the ouster of Chinese President Xi Jinping. For nearly 3 years, the Left government has been implementing widespread checks, brutal lockdowns, mandatory quarantines and digital tracking in the country. This had broken the backbone of the financial sector and led to massive inflation.

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The BBC strongly condemned the incident. The incident in which our reporter Edward Lawrence was arrested while covering the protests in Shanghai and handcuffed in the course of his official duties is highly condemnable. He was jailed for several hours before being released. The police beat and kicked them during the arrest.

But the explanation given by the Chinese authorities is that he was arrested for the sake of the reporter because he might catch the virus from the crowd. We have received no official explanation or apology from the Chinese authorities beyond this claim by officials. The BBC explained that we do not consider this to be a plausible explanation.

The British government also took a strong stand today condemning the incident of beating up the journalist. The government has expressed concern to China about the incident. At a press conference today, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian confirmed Lawrence’s detention. But he claimed that before the police took Lawrence away, he had not revealed that he was a journalist. “China always welcomes foreign media persons to report news in the country in accordance with the law. And they are given a lot of help. “At the same time, they must follow the country’s regulations when they report to China,” Zhao said.

Public protests are rare in China. Crackdown on protesters is a common sight in the country. Meanwhile, two videos of the BBC reporter being arrested are widely circulating on Twitter. An eyewitness who recorded the video revealed that he was seen being kicked, assaulted and dragged across the floor by four policemen who were handcuffed. However, it is not clear from the footage what led to the arrest.

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