China hails state TV reporter for 'slapping Tory' at party conference

Chinese embassy in London demands apology for journalist's detention

A Chinese state TV reporter who was arrested after allegedly slapping a man during an event at the Conservative Party Conference has been hailed as a hero by many in China.

Kong Linlin, a nationalist reporter for China Central Television (CCTV), had earlier disrupted an event about political freedoms in the former British colony Hong Kong, and was eventually asked by delegates and MPs to leave.

In an altercation afterwards which was caught on camera, Ms Kong was seen shouting and lashing out at Conservative Party activist Enoch Lieu.

One of the speakers at the event, Benedict Rogers, said she had “shouted abuse and lies”, and that was why she was ejected.

He wrote on Twitter: “She was asked to leave because all she was doing was shouting abuse & lies, & then repeatedly hitting a young man who politely & calmly asked her to leave. We welcome questions & opinions; we don’t welcome shouting, screaming, lying and assault. It’s that simple.”

In the video Ms Kong can be heard saying: “You are not democratic in the UK. I am a journalist here,” and then shows her press accreditation badge.

When she is restrained by another activist, she shouts: “Let me go,” adding, “Oh how democratic UK, you’re so proud of it.”

Mr Lieu said: “The reporter continued her shouting and whilst I was trying to escort her out, she accused me of trying to silence her. Then I said, 'No miss you have to go.' All of a sudden, she slapped me in my face.”

The event was said to have focused on the impact of China’s 2017 announcement that the joint declaration with Britain to return Hong Kong to China in 1997 which laid the blueprint for the city’s future laws, was now merely a “historical document” and no longer valid.

West Midlands Police were called to the scene and arrested Ms Kong and held her overnight on Sunday before she was released on Monday, while investigations remain underway.

While some independent Hong Kong media have speculated Ms Kong’s actions may have been a stunt to “further her career”, large numbers of Chinese social media users have since rallied to defend and praise her actions.

On Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, thousands of supportive messages have been posted, describing her as a “good journalist”, and saying she was acting to “defend the motherland” from the threat of Hong Kong independence.

Official media in China said Ms Kong “suffered a lot of obstruction”, and one alleged that she was assaulted.

In addition, the Chinese embassy in the UK has demanded an apology.

“In a country that boasts freedom of speech, it is puzzling that the Chinese journalist should encounter obstruction in such a way and even assault at the fringe event when she simply raised a question and expressed her opinions. This is completely unacceptable," the embassy said in a statement.

“The Human Rights Committee of UK Conservative Party should stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and stop meddling in Hong Kong affairs. The organiser of fringe event should apologise to the Chinese journalist.”