China covid protests – live: Anti-lockdown dissent in Shanghai spreads to cities worldwide

Rare protests broke out in China over the weekend as residents railed against the government’s strict “zero Covid” policy.

Widespread demonstrations are unprecedented in the country since the army crushed the 1989 student-led pro-democracy movement centered on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

But over the weekend, citizens in the capital Beijing and Shanghai took to the streets demanding an end to harsh lockdowns.

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Hong Kong residents hold a vigil for the victims of an apartment fire in the far western city of Urumqi as part of Asia-wide protest over China’s restrictive coronavirus curbs.

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In a tweet this morning, James Cleverly addressed the protests in China which saw a BBC journalist beaten and kicked by Chinese police.

The foreign secretary wrote: “Media freedom and freedom to protest must be respected. No country is exempt.”

Foreign secretary James Cleverly said the beating of a BBC journalist by Chinese police is “deeply disturbing”.

Grant Shapps also commented that it was of “considerable concern” that cameraman Edward Lawrence was “arrested and handcuffed” while covering demonstrations over China’s Covid-19 restrictions, and then “beaten and kicked” by police.

Mr Shapps told Sky News: “There can be absolutely no excuse whatsoever for journalists who are simply covering the process going on, for being beaten by the police.

“I know that’s (of) considerable concern.”

The business secretary also told LBC radio: “Freedom of press and freedom to report should be sacrosanct.”

He said it was “unacceptable” for journalists to be “caught up and involved and indeed arrested” when they should be “fully entitled to cover things freely”.

Mr Cleverly tweeted: “Media freedom and freedom to protest must be respected. No country is exempt.

“The arrest of BBC journalist EP-Lawrence China is deeply disturbing. Journalists must be able to do their job without intimidation.”

Security minister Tom Tugendhat warned the arrest was “an echo of the repression the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) is attempting elsewhere”.

“China’s attempts at state repression here in the UK remind us of the urgent need to defend our own freedoms,” he said on Twitter.

It was reported that China’s foreign ministry contested the BBC statement, claiming Mr Lawrence did not identify himself as a journalist.

Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian reportedly said the BBC’s account did not reflect what had happened.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson told a regular briefing on Monday that China was not aware of any protests abroad calling for an end to the zero-Covid policy.

Asked about the protests at home, the spokesperson said the question did not “reflect what actually happened” and said China believed the fight against Covid would be successful with the leadership of the party and the cooperation of the people.

Protests against China‘s strict zero-Covid policy and restrictions on freedoms have spread to at least a dozen cities around the world in a show of solidarity with rare displays of defiance in China over the weekend.

Small-scale vigils and protests have been held in cities in Europe, Asia and North America, including London, Paris, Tokyo and Sydney, according to a Reuters tally, organised by expatriate dissidents and students.

Dozens of people attended most of the protests with a few drawing more than 100, the tally showed.

The gatherings are a rare instance of Chinese at home and abroad uniting in anger.

“It’s what I should do. When I saw so many Chinese citizens and students take to the streets, my feeling is they have shouldered so much more than we have,” said graduate student Chiang Seeta, one of the organisers of a demonstration in Paris on Sunday that drew about 200 people.

“We’re now showing support for them from abroad,” said Chiang.

The BBC has accused Chinese police of assaulting one of its journalists while they were covering protests against the stringent Covid-19 measures in China.

The broadcaster said on Monday that it was “concerned” over the arrest and treatment of camera operator Edward Lawrence, who it said was “beaten and kicked” in Shanghai on Sunday night.

“The BBC is extremely concerned about the treatment of our journalist Ed Lawrence, who was arrested and handcuffed while covering the protests in Shanghai,” a BBC spokesperson said.

Stuti Mishra reports:

Business secretary Grant Shapps said there was “no excuse” for the Chinese police to physically assault mediapersons covering protests after the BBC said its journalist was beaten and detained in Shanghai.

“There can be absolutely no excuse whatsoever for journalists who are simply covering the protests going on, for being beaten by the police,” Mr Shapps told Sky News on Monday.

“I know that’s a considerable concern.”

The BBC has accused the Chinese police of assaulting one of its journalists Edward Lawrence while covering protests against the Communist party’s stringent Covid-19 restrictions in China.

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar reports:

Protestors in Beijing have confronted police as they took to the streets to demonstrate against China’s zero-Covid policy.