The BBC said it was “deeply concerned” about the well-being of a journalist who has been unable to leave Vietnam for months.
The Vietnamese national traveled to Vietnam to visit family and renew his passport, but his documents and identification were confiscated and he was “interrogated for several days,” the company said in a statement.
The BBC is calling on Vietnamese authorities to provide the journalist with a renewed passport so he can leave immediately and return to work.
Vietnam’s Communist Party general secretary Toh Lam will arrive in the UK on Tuesday and meet Sir Keir Starmer.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “The UK’s position and track record in defending press freedom are clear.”
“We remain concerned about reported harassment of NGOs, journalists, rights activists and communities in Vietnam and are raising these concerns directly with our Vietnamese counterparts,” they added.
Vietnam is a one-party communist country and one of the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia.
But along with its economic growth, the country has high levels of political censorship and a poor human rights record.
The Communist Party has a strong control over Vietnamese media.
Media outlets and journalists risk sanctions and arrest for covering sensitive topics or criticizing the government, and online content deemed threatening communist rule is blocked.
