UK reporter detained live on air
2013-03-15 22:11
London - A journalist and his camera operator were
detained in Tiananmen Square live on British television on Friday, in what he
described as a surreal but telling episode about reporting in China.
Viewers of the 24-hour British channel Sky News were treated
to the bizarre sight of reporter Mark Stone being directed into a police van
live from Beijing.
He reported live from inside the van, admitting that the
Chinese officials with him - one them filming Stone herself - probably did not
realise he was speaking directly to London.
"Still in the police van, should be leaving in just
a second for this rather surreal experience, which gives you a little insight
into what can happen sometimes" in China, Stone said.
The team were then taken into a room where they were told
to await questioning.
"We were here in Tiananmen Square filming, doing
lives [live reports] through the day, now they've stopped us because of one
word. We were talking about the 1989 protest, they didn't like that,"
Stone said.
The square is a popular tourist site near the regime's
nerve centre and the scene of 1989 democracy protests that were crushed by the
Chinese authorities.
A police officer was filmed asking the Sky team to switch
off their camera, saying they were now inside the Forbidden City and did not
have permission to film there.
Stone, who was in Beijing reporting on China's leadership
transition, said the police had been "utterly civil" throughout the
incident.
While they had permission to film in the square, Stone
said police told him the team were not displaying their passes correctly, and
noted he was not carrying his passport as required.
China's foreign ministry insists that press censorship
does not exist in the country, but journalists report the constant threat of
interference from government officials.
