A journalist from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was detained for hours on Sunday after reporting from the scene of historically large protests against China’s strict COVID-19 lockdown policies that broke out in Shanghai, Aljazeera reports. The BBC said in a statement that their journalist Ed Lawrence was “beaten and kicked by the police” and then arrested while covering the protests.

Shanghai authorities said the BBC’s account of events is inaccurate, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a presser in Beijing. They allege that Lawrence did not identify himself as a journalist or show his government-issued press credentials, which are required for all foreign media in China. Lijian said he was arrested only after law enforcement asked people to leave the scene.