A journalist with the BBC was beaten and arrested by Chinese police in Shanghai while covering the anti-lockdown protests that have swept China in response to the government’s harsh “Zero COVID” policies.
A viral video Sunday showed reporter Ed Lawrence pulled to the ground and arrested by at least four uniformed police officers with the help of at least one undercover or plainclothes officer dressed in black as protesters chanted, while another video showed Lawrence being dragged away by two masked police and one officer in black, with the reporter yelling, “Call the consulate now!”
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“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 held for several hours before being released. During his arrest, he was beaten and kicked by police,” the BBC said in a Sunday statement. “This happened while he was working as an accredited journalist. It is very worrying that one of our journalists was attacked in this way whilst carrying out his duties.”
Witnessed a BBC journalist got sieged and dragged to the ground by several cops in Shanghai earlier tonight on the Urumqi Rd. His friend said he was targeted becuz he was filming the protest. (feel free to @ his handle if you know who this journalist is ) @BBCNews @BBCNewsAsia pic.twitter.com/tPgoPET3hg
— Shanghaishanghai (@Shanghaishang10) November 27, 2022
The BBC added: “We have had no official explanation or apology from the Chinese authorities, beyond a claim by the officials who later released him that they had him arrested for his own good in case he caught Covid from the crowd. We do not consider this a credible explanation.”
Lawrence tweeted Sunday night: “I understand at least one local national was arrested after trying to stop the police from beating me. Thanks very much for the kind words and messages of concern.”
Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian claimed Monday that Lawrence hadn’t identified himself as a journalist before being arrested.
There have been tens of thousands of protesters across more than a dozen major Chinese cities, with some of the protesters calling for the end of the rule of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who solidified his grip on the country in October with a third term as head of the Chinese Communist Party. The protests have included the Chinese capital of Beijing, its financial hub of Shanghai, numerous major universities, the large metropolises of Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Lanzhou, as well as the city of Wuhan, where the COVID-19 global outbreak originated in the latter part of 2019.
The Chinese government has implemented a nearly three-year “Zero COVID” strategy, marked by forcible mass testing, neighborhood or citywide lockdowns, which have included homes and apartments being sealed or welded shut, invasive digital tracking, huge quarantine zones, and an increase in China’s already massive police and surveillance state.
These widespread protests, the largest in China since the pandemic began and indeed since Xi took over a decade ago, were spurred by a deadly blaze in the Xinjiang capital of Urumqi, where a fire in a locked-down neighborhood killed at least 10 people in an apartment building. Residents of the area said the response time of firefighters was delayed by the stringent lockdowns imposed in the city, with Chinese officials admitting that lockdown barriers had to be removed from the building’s exits.
The Urumqi lockdowns have lasted more than three months, and many residents have been unable to leave their homes. Residents of the city marched on a Chinese government building Friday and called for the end of the harsh restrictions, with the protests soon sweeping the country, including through the use of social media despite it being highly restricted and censored by China’s government.
Some of the protests in Shanghai, including where Lawrence was arrested, were held on Urumqi Road in remembrance of the victims in Xinjiang’s capital. The protests in China grew on Saturday and Sunday, when they were met with a harsh response from hundreds of police.
The British prime minister’s spokesman said Monday, “The arrest of this journalist simply going about their work is shocking and unacceptable. Journalists must be able to do their jobs without fear of intimidation. The detention of Ed Lawrence is an echo of the repression the CCP is attempting elsewhere.”
U.K. Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said: “China’s attempts at state repression here in the UK remind us of the urgent need to defend our own freedoms.”
The White House also weighed in on Monday.
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“We’ve said that zero COVID is not a policy we are pursuing here in the United States,” the White House said. “And as we’ve said, we think it’s going to be very difficult for the People’s Republic of China to be able to contain this virus through their zero COVID strategy. For us, we are focusing on what works and that means using public health tools like: continuing to enhance vaccination rates, including boosters, and making testing and treatment easily accessible. We’ve long said everyone has the right to peacefully protest, here in the United States and around the world. This includes in the PRC.”
Asked about anti-lockdown protests in China, Lijian told reporters Monday: “What you mentioned does not reflect what actually happened. We believe that with the leadership of the Communist Party of China and cooperation and support of the Chinese people, our fight against COVID-19 will be successful.”
