The BBC said on Sunday that Chinese law enforcement had “beaten and kicked” one of its journalists after detaining him at a protest. “The BBC is extremely concerned about the treatment of our journalist Ed Lawrence, who was arrested and handcuffed while covering the protests in Shanghai,” the broadcaster said in a statement. “He was held for several hours before being released. During his arrest, he was beaten and kicked by the police. This happened while he was working as an accredited journalist.” The BBC said that it had been given no explanation or apology for Lawrence’s treatment, only an excuse by the arresting officers that they’d pulled him away from the crowd in case he caught COVID-19. Tensions flared in Shanghai on Sunday night as hundreds of anti-COVID lockdown demonstrators clashed with police, challenging Chinese President Xi Jingping’s iron grip on the country just weeks after he was appointed to another five-year term in office. The protests came after an apartment fire killed at least 10 people in China’s northwest Xinjiang region last week, with critics claiming that victims were prevented from escaping by the country’s strict lockdown measures.