BBC journalist beaten, arrested by police during China protest

A BBC journalist was reportedly beaten, kicked and arrested by police in China while covering the anti-lockdown protests currently sweeping the country.

Edward Lawrence, a prominent journalist and photo operator for the BBC China bureau, was arrested in Shanghai on Sunday night while covering an anti-“COVID Zero” protest.

Citizens of some of China’s largest cities, including Shanghai and Beijing (pictured above), are protesting the authoritarian government’s strict COVID Zero measures, which include frequent and severe lockdowns. The demonstrators, some of whom carried flowers and slogans, also expressed their discontent with Chinese President Xi Jinping himself.

In a series of tweets before his arrest, Lawrence wrote that he had watched crowds grow at an anti-lockdown protest in Shanghai. He wrote that he had seen three people arrested by the police and that the police had called him to overhear his conversation while he was talking to a man who claimed the authorities had confiscated his flowers.

It’s unclear when or why Lawrence was next arrested, but two videos circulating appear to show excerpts from his arrest. In one, he was led away by three men, two of whom were in military uniform, as he shouted to a colleague to “call the consulate now”.

Elsewhere, he was on the ground, flanked by five men, before being led away in handcuffs.

A BBC News spokesperson said in a statement: “The BBC is extremely concerned about the treatment of journalist Ed Lawrence, who was arrested and handcuffed while covering protests in Shanghai. He was held for several hours before being released. During his arrest, he was beaten and kicked by police.” This happened while he was working as a certified journalist.”

“It is deeply disturbing that one of our journalists was assaulted in this way while carrying out his duties. We have had no official explanation or apology from the Chinese authorities, other than a claim by the officials who later released him that they arrested him for his own good in the event he was caught from the crowd. We do not consider this credible interpretation.

Lawrence, who appears to have been released, retweeted his tweet on Monday, adding, “I understand at least one local citizen has been arrested after trying to stop the police from beating me.”

The protests in China, which are unprecedented, were reportedly triggered by a catastrophic fire in an apartment building in the city of Urumqi last week, which claimed 10 lives. It is understood that the neighborhood in which the apartment building is located has been subject to one of the frequent COVID lockdowns, which have prevented residents from escaping.

China’s strict zero COVID policy has seen the country’s citizens spend nearly three years living under some of the most stringent anti-COVID measures in the world, including lockdowns, mass testing and quarantines.

Last month, 20,000 visitors were locked inside Shanghai Disneyland after officials discovered eight positive cases of COVID in the city. They were later released.



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