BBC journalist is ‘beaten by the police’ during protests across China

CNN Business
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According to the BBC, Edward Lawrence was a journalist for the BBC. He was detained by police at the scene protests in Shanghai on Sunday night. This arrest was recorded on what appears to have been mobile phone footage.

While he has since been released, a BBC spokesperson has expressed extreme concern about his treatment, saying he was “beaten and kicked by the police.”

Protests have erupted across China in a rare show of dissent against the ruling Communist Party, sparked by anger over the country’s increasingly costly zero-Covid policy.

Hundreds of protesters have called for the deportation of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. He has been overseeing a strategy that includes mass-testing and brute-force lockdowns as well as enforced quarantine, digital tracking, and this has had devastating economic and human consequences.

The BBC statement reads in full: “The BBC is extremely concerned about the treatment of our journalist Ed Lawrence, who was arrested and handcuffed while covering the protests in Shanghai. He was kept for many hours before being released. He was kicked and beaten by police officers during his arrest. This happened while he was working as an accredited journalist.”

The statement continues, “It is very worrying that one of our journalists was attacked in this way whilst carrying out his duties. The Chinese authorities have not offered any explanation or apology. They only claimed that he was being held for his own safety in case Covid was caught by them. We do not consider this a credible explanation.”

China is a country where public protest is rare. The Communist Party has tightened their grip on every aspect of life, launched a massive crackdown on dissent and created a high-tech surveillance system.

A Twitter user claims they saw the incident and posted at least two clips. One clip is filmed from above and shows at least four officers standing over an unidentified man being handcuffed.

In a second clip of a man wearing the same clothing, Lawrence’s face is clearly identifiable, as police quickly led him away, and then shouts, “Call the consulate now.”

The witness who shared the videos said they saw the journalist get “sieged and dragged to the ground by several cops.”

It is unclear what happened in the lead-up to Lawrence’s arrest. The online video does not show the events prior to Lawrence’s arrest.

CNN reached out to China’s Foreign Ministry for comment on the incident. China has not yet made public statements about the matter.