On 29 November, Chinese Ambassador to the UK H.E. Zheng Zeguang issued a press statement on the UK’s clamour that a BBC journalist was “arrested” and “beaten” by the Chinese side. The press statement is as follows:

What really happened was that on the night of 27 November, to maintain public order, local police in Shanghai asked people who had gathered at a crossroads to leave. One of those at the scene was a resident journalist from the BBC. The journalist in the entire time did not identify himself as a journalist and refused to cooperate with the police’s law enforcement efforts. The police then had to take him away from the scene. After verifying his identity, the police allowed him to leave. Everything was conducted within normal law-enforcement procedures. The UK side is now falsely claiming that the journalist had been “arrested” and “beaten” by Chinese police. Such a groundless accusation is a distortion of the truth and malicious slander and is totally unacceptable to the Chinese side.

Foreign journalists have the right to report news in China, but they need to follow Chinese laws and regulations while doing their work. When conducting reporting and interviews, journalists need to present their press credentials first, and not engage in activities incompatible with their capacity as journalists. This applies to all media organizations and has nothing to do with the question of freedom of the press. We urge the UK side to enhance its education of resident journalists sent to China by UK media outlets, request them to follow local laws and regulations and the journalism ethics and not engage in activities incompatible with their capacity as journalists. The UK side must respect facts, be prudent in what it says or does and stop its practice of double standards.