Chinese diplomat is given summons

CHINA’S ambassador to the UK was summoned to the Foreign Office yesterday, amid a row over the arrest and alleged beating of a BBC journalist covering Covid protests in Shanghai.

The Government department has urged Zheng Zeguang to “demand a full and thorough explanation” of cameraman Edward Lawrence’s detention, a Foreign Office minister told the House of Commons yesterday.

David Rutley said that UK officials will make clear the “unacceptable and unwarranted” nature of the journalist’s treatment, after the BBC said he was “beaten and kicked” by police in the Chinese city.

China-sceptic Tory MPs, meanwhile, urged the Government to “get serious” about Beijing, and criticised Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s plans to take a “robustly pragmatic” approach to country.

Answering a question in the Commons, Mr Rutley said: “As the Foreign Secretary made clear yesterday, the arrest of a BBC journalist while covering the recent protests in Shanghai is a deeply disturbing and wholly unacceptable situation.

“Journalists must be able to do their job without fear of arrest or intimidation. The BBC has stated that the journalist was beaten and kicked by police during his arrest and was held for several hours before being released.

“In response, we are calling in the Chinese ambassador to make clear the unacceptable and unwarranted nature of these actions, the importance of freedom of speech, and to demand a full and thorough explanation.”

Mr Rutley added: “We recognise that the Covid-related restrictions in China are challenging for the Chinese people, and we urge the Chinese authorities to respect the rights of those who decide to express their views about the situation.”

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the Tory former leader and a longstanding China critic, raised doubts during the debate that the Prime Minister’s vision of “robust pragmatism” towards Beijing would “worry the Chinese any one bit”.

In his first major foreign policy speech, Mr Sunak on Monday said that the “golden era” of UKChinese relations is over, but cautioned it was wrong to “rely on simplistic Cold War rhetoric”.

He told the Lord Mayor’s Banquet in London that the UK “cannot simply ignore China’s significance in world affairs – to global economic stability or issues like climate change”.

Sir Iain also denounced Mr Sunak’s apparent softening of rhetoric to declare Beijing a “systemic challenge” rather than a “systemic threat”.