Foreign Journalist Beaten In Shanghai? FM Responds

■ Source: Global Times

In response to UK prime minister Rishi Sunak's accusation of a BBC journalist "being assaulted" in China, a spokesperson from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs rebuked that remarks from the UK as a serious distortion of the facts.

In response, ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said during a Tuesday briefing that on the night of November 27, to maintain public order, local police in Shanghai asked people who had gathered at a crossroads to leave. 

One of those at the scene is a resident journalist from the BBC.

Though the police made it clear to the journalist and others that they needed to leave, the journalist refused to leave and during the entire time did not identify himself as a journalist.

The police then took him away from the scene. After verifying his identity and informing him of pertinent laws and regulations, the police let go of him. 

Everything was conducted within legal procedures. This BBC journalist refused to cooperate with the police's law enforcement efforts and then acted as if he were a victim. 

The BBC immediately twisted the story and massively propagated the narrative that its journalist had been "arrested" and "beaten" by police while he was working, simply to try to paint China as the guilty party. 

This deliberate distortion of truth is all too familiar as part of the BBC's distasteful playbook, said Zhao.

Zhao said that while having the right to report news in accordance with the law in China, foreign journalists need to consciously follow Chinese laws and regulations. 

When conducting reporting and interviews, journalists need to present their press credentials first, and they shoud not engage in activities incompatible with their capacity as journalists.