"Chinese police apologise after Caixin reporter’s ‘prostitution bust’ hotel room inspection", 20 November 2018

Police have confirmed a female reporter’s claim that she was subjected to surveillance and a hotel room inspection like a “prostitution bust” while she was covering a chemical leak in southeast China last week. 

The Quanzhou Public Security Bureau...issued an apology and said four policemen...had overstepped their jurisdiction and “caused negative social effects”...Caixin reporter Zhou Chen had been covering a chemical leak in the city’s Quangang district when the incident happened....

...Zhou wrote...the four policemen suddenly entered her room at around 11.30pm while she was in her pyjamas. She was told to produce her identification card and the four men then searched the bathroom and balcony for “people hiding there”. The reporter said they left after warning her to be aware of her personal safety. The policemen did not have a warrant to search her room as is required by Chinese law, according to Zhou.

...Zhou said she had been stopped from taking photos at a town meeting by people wearing body cameras. Those people then tailed her when she got on a boat to see the dead fish at a local fish farm, according to her account. They claimed they were also there to assess the situation when she confronted them.