A BBC journalist was allegedly assaulted and detained while covering a protest in Shanghai yesterday. The journalist, Ed Lawrence, works for BBC’s China bureau.

BBC issued a statement saying Lawrence was “arrested and handcuffed” and “held for several hours”. “During his arrest, he was beaten and kicked by the police,” the statement alleged. 

The statement said there was “no official explanation or apology from the Chinese authorities, beyond a claim by the officials who later released him that they had arrested him for his own good in case he caught Covid from the crowd”. BBC said this was not a “credible explanation”.

Video footage from last night shows the police leading Lawrence away.

However, China’s foreign ministry said Lawrence “did not identify himself as a journalist”. According to Reuters, a ministry spokesperson said the BBC statement “did not reflect what had happened”.

Protests have taken place in Shanghai for the last three days over Covid restrictions. Protests were also reported in Wuhan, Beijing and other cities with hundreds taking to the streets. China reported 39,791 new Covid cases, of which 36,082 were asymptomatic, on November 26.

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Update at 1.45 pm, Nov 28: This report has been updated with the response from China’s foreign ministry.