There has been no official explanation or apology from the Chinese government. At the time of his release, the explanation given was that such an action was taken out of concern for his well-being so as not to spread the virus from the crowd, the BBC said.
Beijing: People protest against the restrictions imposed by the government in the context of the spread of Covid-19 in China. Hundreds of people gathered in major cities to protest against the government policy. The BBC reported that police arrested and handcuffed a BBC journalist who reported on the protests in Shanghai.
The BBC says it strongly condemns the police action against journalist Ed Lawrence. Lawrence is a BBC accredited journalist working in China. The BBC says he was held in custody for several hours, during which time he was punched and kicked by several police officers. Lawrence was later released by police. In a statement, the BBC pointed out that one of its employees was attacked in this way during the performance of duty.
There has been no official explanation or apology from the Chinese government. The BBC also stated that the explanation given at the time of release was that such an action was taken out of concern for his well-being in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19 from the crowd. The BBC said it did not consider it a plausible explanation.