The United States government and an international news agency lodged protests with China's Foreign Ministry today after a photographer claimed he was beaten by police while covering a Three Tenors concert in the Forbidden City.
Mr Stephen Shaver, a US citizen and photographer with the Agence France-Presse, was allegedly punched in the head and ribs, knocked over and dragged along the ground while taking photographs before Saturday's concert, staged to promote Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Olympics.
The allegation raises question marks over Chinese officials' pledge to allow the thousands of reporters who would descend on Beijing for the Olympics the freedom to report wherever and whatever they like.
Half a dozen plainclothes and uniformed police officers are alleged to have attacked Mr Shaver after he took a picture of a lone protester detained by police in front of the venue, AFP said.
He was released but reportedly assaulted again when leaving the concert by a group of policemen including one of those involved in the initial incident, it said.
"We're outraged at the assault. We protested the incident in the strongest terms with the Chinese government", said US State Department spokesman Mr Richard Boucher.
"We want to see a full explanation of what happened, an inquiry into the behavior of police officers who apparently violated Chinese laws as well as internationally recognized standards".
The US Embassy in Beijing conveyed a protest to the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the State Department will speak to senior Chinese diplomats, Mr Boucher said.
AFP Asia-Pacific Regional Director Mr Pierre Lesourd said in a letter to the Foreign Ministry: "AFP strongly protests the violence inflicted on one of its photographers in the exercise of
his duty and demands an explanation".
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Ms Zhang Qiyue warned reporters not to use the case to undermine Beijing's Olympic bid.
"This is an isolated case", she told a regular news conference."This has nothing to do with China's bid to host the Olympic Games".
However, the Paris-based press rights group Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) said in a statement it had written to International Olympic Committee President Mr Juan Antonio Samaranch to protest working conditions of foreign reporters in Beijing.
RSF asked Mr Samaranch to publicly condemn the alleged attack.