The UK government has summoned on Tuesday the Chinese ambassador in London, Zheng Zeguang, to protest against the beating of a journalist of the British television network BBC detained while covering the protests of recent days in the Asian giant against the restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.
British government sources quoted by the newspaper ‘Evening Standard’ have detailed that the Foreign Minister, James Cleverly, has summoned Zheng to denounce the assault on journalist Ed Lawrence. «We have made it clear that this behavior on the part of the Chinese authorities is completely unacceptable,» they added.
Cleverly himself said Monday that the incident is «deeply disturbing,» while Downing Street called it «shocking and unacceptable,» while stressing that journalists «must be able to do their job without fear or intimidation.»
The BBC had previously reported that the journalist had been «arrested and handcuffed while covering protests against restrictions imposed in China over the coronavirus pandemic» and that he was subsequently «beaten by police». On the other hand, the Chinese authorities have defended the actions of the security forces and have indicated that the reports of the British channel do not reflect what really happened.
