In the midst of protests in Shanghai on Sunday, Ed Lawrence, a person authorized to work there, was detained.

Following Ed Lawrence’s detention while covering demonstrations in Shanghai against China’s anti-covid campaign for BBC public radio and television, the British government summoned the Chinese ambassador to London.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned Ambassador Zheng Zeguang. After being “struck and kicked by the Police” and being held for a while, the Executive is in contact with the journalist.

The matter was made public on Sunday as a result of the BBC’s report that Lawrence had been detained while covering the riots. James Cleverly, the chief of British diplomacy, called the situation “very disturbing.”

Cleverly stressed on Twitter that “journalists must be able to perform their work without being harassed” and that “no country is exempt.” He said that “freedom of the press and freedom of demonstration must be protected” and “no country is exempt.”

The writer was covering the protest against confinements that took place in Shanghai on Sunday but also spread to Beijing and Wuhan, among other locations.

For this reason, the Chinese government attempted this Monday to suppress a protest movement of historic proportions, in which the populace requested the removal of covid-related health restrictions and increased freedoms.

Lawrence thanked his followers on Twitter after being freed and mentioned that at least one Chinese citizen “was jailed after trying to stop the police hitting me.”

Lawrence’s detention occurred in the midst of heightened tension between Beijing and London due to the UK’s harsh criticism of China for recent violent episodes on British soil and restrictions on freedoms in Hong Kong, a former British colony.

Hundreds of people protested last weekend in a number of Chinese cities against the restrictions and lockdowns put in place by the government to combat the coronavirus epidemic.

The rage being felt in that nation as a result of this mobilization appears to be unlike anything seen since the bloodily suppressed pro-democracy demonstrations of 1989.