The British Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Chinese ambassador in London, Zheng Zeguang, on Tuesday to express the government’s protest against the arrest and assault of a BBC journalist while covering the protests in Shanghai, official UK sources reported.
Cameraman Edward Lawrence, according to the station, was arrested, handcuffed, beaten and kicked by Shanghai security forces. during a protest against the restrictions imposed by China to stop the spread of covid-19.
The Foreign Office summoned the Chinese ambassador a day after the British Prime Minister, the Conservative Rishi Sunak, stated in a speech during the annual dinner at the headquarters of the City of London (financial center) that the "Golden age" of Anglo-Chinese relations has ended.
In his address to businessmen and foreign policy experts, Sunak noted that the close economic ties with China of the previous decade had been "naive"although he admitted that the importance of China at a global level cannot be ignored.
Sunak criticized the Chinese authorities because "they chose to take strong measures, even assaulting a BBC journalist".
"We recognize that China poses a challenge to our values and interests, a challenge that becomes more acute as it moves towards even greater authoritarianism."said the head of government.
The "Golden age" is associated with economic ties with China that marked the Government of the conservative David Cameron (2010-2016), but those links have deteriorated in recent years.
Sunak pointed out, however, that the UK knows the importance of China for global economic stability and issues related to the climate emergency.
Thus, the prime minister stressed that his country will work with allies -among them the US, Canada, Australia and Japan- to "manage this competition"even with "diplomacy and compromise".
After the arrest of the journalist, the BBC expressed concern about the treatment received by Lawrence in Shanghai and specified that he was held for several hours before being released.
"During his detention he was beaten and kicked by the police. This happened while he was working as an accredited journalist. It is very worrying that one of our journalists has been attacked in this way in the exercise of his duties"the BBC added.
