New Delhi: British news broadcaster BBC alleged that Chinese police roughed up and detained one of its journalists covering the protest in Shanghai.
A massive protests against the government's zero-covid policy has erupted across China with authorities on Sunday resorting to quell them.
BBC claimed that its reporter was handcuffed and then released a few hours later.
News agency Reuters reported the BBC had expressed concern about "the treatment' its journalist Ed Lawrence faced from the Chinese police.
A spokesperson for BBC said: "We have had no official explanation or apology from the Chinese authorities, beyond a claim by the officials who later released him that they had arrested him for his own good in case he caught COVID from the crowd."
Anger at the government's draconian covid policy has been boiling over the nation for the last few days.
Hundreds have filled the streets in Beijing on Sunday demanding Xi Jinping step down.