Chinese journalist Kong Linlin faces arrest over 'Tory slap' claim Published duration 18 April 2019 Related Topics Conservative Party Conference

image copyright CCTV-13 image caption Kong Linlin is a correspondent for China's official state broadcaster

An arrest warrant has been issued for a Chinese journalist who failed to appear before magistrates.

Kong Linlin, 49, was charged with common assault after an incident at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham on 30 September 2018.

A summons was posted to her address in King's Cross, London, for a hearing at Birmingham Magistrates' Court.

She is alleged to have assaulted a delegate during a discussion about political freedoms in Hong Kong.

The case against Ms Kong, a London-based correspondent for China's official state broadcaster CCTV, was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service in November but was later reinstated.