Chinese Ambassador to Britain Zheng Zeguang, who was summoned to the British Foreign Office on Tuesday in connection with an incident involving the alleged beating of a BBC journalist by Chinese police in Shanghai, accused London of slander
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th November, 2022) Chinese Ambassador to Britain Zheng Zeguang, who was summoned to the British Foreign Office on Tuesday in connection with an incident involving the alleged beating of a BBC journalist by Chinese police in Shanghai, accused London of slander.
On Monday, the BBC said journalist Edward Lawrence was detained and beaten by Chinese police officers while covering a Sunday protest against COVID-19 restrictions in Shanghai. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian responded by saying that the journalist did not present a media identification card and the BBC's account of events was inaccurate. Zhao added that foreign journalists are always welcome to cover events in China, but only if they respect local laws and regulations.
"The UK side is now falsely claiming that the journalist had been 'arrested' and 'beaten' by Chinese police. Such a groundless accusation is a distortion of the truth and malicious slander and is totally unacceptable to the Chinese side," the diplomat said in a statement, published by the embassy.
The BBC's resident journalist was among the protesters gathered at an intersection in Shanghai on Sunday, the ambassador said, adding that the journalist did not show his press ID and refused to cooperate with police, so police officers had to remove him from the demonstration site and later released when his identity was established.
"Everything was conducted within normal law-enforcement procedures," the diplomat added.
Due to numerous COVID-19 outbreaks across China and the deterioration of the epidemiological situation in Shanghai in particular, the Chinese authorities have introduced partial lockdowns in some areas, while also forcing residents to undergo PCR testing on a daily basis.
China has adhered to a zero-tolerance policy toward COVID-19 almost from the very beginning of the pandemic. Chinese epidemiological controls are some of the strictest in the world.
