A German television crew filming in a village near Beijing was assaulted on Wednesday by a group of men in four vehicles who tried to run the crew’s minivan off the road and then smashed its windshield with baseball bats, said one of the correspondents. No injuries were reported. One witness later told the journalists that at least one of the vehicles belonged to the local Communist Party chief. The German crew, working for the broadcaster ARD, said the episode took place in Sanhe, a city in Hebei Province, roughly 30 miles east of Beijing. The attackers rammed the minivan, forcing it to stop. Two men then smashed it with bats as two police officers stood by. After more officers arrived they led the journalists to a police station. The five journalists were questioned for 16 hours, said Christine Adelhardt, an ARD correspondent. A police officer later suggested that the attackers had been “offended” because the crew had filmed without permission.