Journalist suspended for wearing sunglasses, holding umbrella - in china

The unidentified journalist was photographed when she was interviewing volunteers

A TV journalist was suspended for wearing sunglasses and carrying an umbrella to protect herself from the sun while being on camera.

The unidentified reporter was photographed when she was interviewing volunteers, who were helping to clean up after Typhoon Meranti, in the Chinese port city of Xiamen.

According to a BBC report, her appearance with the accessories was construed an act of disrespect to the volunteers cleaning up after the storm. This year's typhoon was believed to be the strongest one of 2016, which claimed the lives of one person each in China and Taiwan.

Xiamen TV station said in a statement: “One of our journalists didn’t obey our rules and failed to conduct an interview properly. “

That damages the image of [the] journalist and had a negative impact on the public.” Weather officials said Typhoon Meranti was the strongest storm of its kind this year.

At least one person in China died and another was killed in Taiwan. On mainland China the storm struck southern Fujian province particularly badly.

Meanwhile, Yanping Zhang, one of the first persons to repost the image of the journalist online, said the punishment given to the reporter was a bit too harsh and "an internal verbal warning should be fine".

"What I intended to do was show the public that it's disrespectful for a journalist to wear sunglasses and hold an umbrella in an interview."

But because she reposted the photograph, Zhang has also fallen foul of some social media users, who have called her a modern day Red Guard, a reference to the youths who enforced the principles of China's Cultural Revolution. "I am very innocent. I even don't know the journalist personally," Zhang said in her defence.

A Shanghai-based female TV journalist, Yijing Lin, said people in China expect journalists to have smart and intellectually-driven personalities. "I wouldn't call it a stereotype, but it does happen," Lin said.

It is not clear whether the journalist's suspension will lead to her dismissal, but the incident has raised questions on the ethics of journalism in China, the BBC reported.