Germany protests attack on TV team in China

Germany’s Foreign Ministry has summoned a Chinese diplomat to protest against an attack on a German public television team in northern China.

ARD television’s Beijing bureau chief, Christine Adelhardt, says she and her team were followed by two cars after filming in Hebei province, and eventually were forced to stop. She says two people hit their vehicle with baseball bats and others tried to force their way into it, but the team managed to drive away. They then alerted traffic police.

China’s deputy ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Berlin on Friday. A ministry statement says German officials made clear that the incident was unacceptable and voiced the expectation that everything be done to clear up what happened.