A Swiss journalist with national broadcaster RTS was “nearly detained” by the Chinese police while reporting on the rising protests against Beijing’s harsh zero-COVID policy.
The journalist, Michael Peuker, was reporting live when he was approached by the police. Fearing detention as the police personnel surrounded him, he said live to the camera: "I will be taken away to the police station after this."
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RTS said soon after this, Peuker identified himself as a journalist and the police left without them.
The incident comes a day after Chinese police allegedly assaulted and detained a British journalist, EP Lawrence, from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in Shanghai. He was released after several hours.
A spokesperson for the British public service broadcaster said: “The BBC is extremely concerned about the treatment of our journalist Ed Lawrence, who was arrested and handcuffed while covering the protests in Shanghai.”
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China, however, denied the allegations. According to The Guardian, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the charges were baseless. “The person did not identify himself as a journalist nor did he show his credentials,” he said. “When the incident happened, law enforcement personnel asked people to leave, and when certain people did not cooperate they were taken away from the scene,” he was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
China is witnessing massive protests against restrictions that force millions of people to stay in their homes due to fear of the spread of COVID. The protesters are also demanding Chinese President Xi Jinping's resignation.
Owing to the large-scale agitations, authorities relaxed anti-COVID regulations in a few locations but upheld its strict "zero- COVID" strategy on Monday.