‘They Were Trying to Stop Us from Going Live’: CNN Crew Surrounded by Chinese Agents While Reporting on COVID

During a report from Beijing on CNN International on Friday, CNN Beijing Bureau Chief Steven Jiang was surrounded by government officials who he said “were trying to stop us from going live” because “they don’t want foreign media coverage of anything related to their COVID strategy,” in light of the negative coverage of China’s coronavirus strategy in Shanghai.

Jiang began the report by stating, “I’m actually surrounded by plainclothes agents here at this testing site.”

Jiang added, “They were trying to stop us from going live here, even though we are perfectly fine in public, not really interfering with this testing site behind me.” And “We are obviously not interfering with their testing process. We are in a very — actually, a rather empty place here, a testing site. Again, a very confined area, not far from the office. So, I think, in general, they just consider this issue so sensitive they just don’t, in a way, want — they don’t want foreign media coverage of anything related to their COVID strategy, right now. Especially, I guess, with all the negative reporting out of Shanghai.”

He concluded, “[T]his is just more than a healthcare issue, a public health issue. It’s always a political issue.”

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