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The UK broadcaster said it was “very concerned” after cameraman Edward Lawrence “was attacked” in Shanghai.
Footage circulating on social media purportedly showed Lawrence prone on the ground being manhandled by a number of officers.
Another clip showed Lawrence being led away in handcuffs, and him appearing to yell at someone he knew to “call the consulate now”.
After Lawrence’s arrest, the BBC issued a statement saying it was “extremely concerned about (his) treatment” by police.
“He was held for several hours before being released,” a spokesperson for the broadcaster said.
“During his arrest he was beaten and kicked by police.
“This happened while he was working as an accredited journalist.
“It is very worrying that one of our journalists was attacked in this way whilst carrying out his duties.”
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The broadcaster said Chinese officials had claimed Lawrence was arrested “for his own good” in case he caught the virus from anyone in the crowd.
“We do not consider this a credible explanation,” the spokesperson said.
A deadly fire at an apartment block in Urumqi, the capital of the far western region of Xinjiang, which killed 10 people and injured nine on Thursday has acted as a catalyst for searing public anger, as videos emerged that seemed to suggest lockdown measures delayed firefighters from reaching the victims.
In China’s biggest cities, from the financial hub of Shanghai to the capital Beijing, residents gathered to grieve the dead from the Xinjiang fire, speak out against zero-COVID and call for freedom and democracy.
On dozens of university campuses, students demonstrated or put up protest posters.
In many parts of the country, residents in locked-down neighbourhoods tore down barriers and took to the streets, following mass anti-lockdown protests that swept Urumqi.
Such widespread scenes of anger and defiance – some of which stretched into the early hours of Monday morning – are exceptionally rare in China, where the ruling Communist Party ruthlessly cracks down on all expressions of dissent.
But three years into the pandemic, many people have been pushed to the brink by the government’s incessant use of lockdowns, COVID-19 tests and quarantines – as well as ever-tightening censorship and continued onslaught on personal freedoms.
