If China does not revoke the immunity of any officials accused with beating a demonstrator at the Chinese consulate in Manchester, Britain has said that “diplomatic repercussions would follow.”
Bob Chan, a Hong Kong pro-democracy activist, had to be saved by police after being dragged inside the consulate’s premises and assaulted.
The Chinese Communist Party described the event as a “chilling escalation” of violence.
Foreign Office minister Jesse Norman recently launched a new political attack, telling lawmakers that “we have made it absolutely clear to the Chinese embassy that the apparent behavior of consulate general officials during the incident, as it appears from footage, which is still coming out more, is completely unacceptable.”
“The independent police inquiry is now underway.” The complicated and sensitive investigation being conducted by Greater Manchester Police has several threads, and it might take some time.
As the Foreign Secretary (James Cleverly) said, we will wait for the investigation’s findings, but in the meanwhile, I’ve asked our ambassador to convey our deep concern about the consulate general staff’s alleged acts directly to the ministry of foreign affairs in Beijing.
“Let me be clear: we would expect the Chinese embassy to waive immunity for those officials if the police think there are sufficient reasons to prosecute any authorities. There will be diplomatic repercussions if they don’t.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a former leader of the Conservative Party, used an urgent question in the House of Commons to inquire about the involvement of Zheng Xiyuan, the Chinese consul general, who it “appears today took part in the attack on Bob Chan.”
It now seems that the consul general participated in that physical attack, Sir Iain said in the Commons.
He said, “I say to (Foreign Office minister Jesse Norman) that today, overnight, we learn that the consul general himself stated that, in addition to taking part in this assault, he was also accountable, in his own words, for yanking his hair out of his head and shredding it.
“Let alone the others that were present, he is the consul general.”
The UK Government should be “much, much clearer than merely using diplomatic language,” according to Sir Iain.
I urge the Government to make it crystal clear in light of this new evidence that it is not only unacceptable for any consulate employee to have participated in anything like this, but that any consulate employee who is proved to have been one of the perpetrators of this outrageous and violent attack on Mr. Chan will be made persona non grata immediately and sent back to China, he said.
Whether or whether there are legal procedures against them, the government has the authority to fire them diplomatically. They must go because we do not want them in the UK.
Expulsion is not a “policing decision,” according to the Conservative chairwoman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.
It is obvious that the House is dissatisfied with the direction the Government is going, and I’m afraid I must confront my right honorable friend on his words from this morning, said Alicia Kearns, a member of the House of Commons. There are no ifs or buts; there is no indication of complicity.
The head of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Alicia Kearns, said in a statement to the Commons: “We cannot allow the CCP to import their beating of protestors, their stifling of free expression, and their inability to allow demonstrations on British soil again.” This escalation is terrifying.
Expulsion is a political choice, not a police one, she said. Can he kindly state that his desire is to prosecute these people and put them in British jails, as he mentioned in dispatch just now?
“Secondly, what are the diplomatic repercussions that he alludes to?” Is it to remove? At this point, simple language is necessary.
Jesse Norman, a minister in the Foreign Office, retorted: “She has made plain her judgment that a crime was committed here, and I believe that is the view that many people have taken. But I think it is not really a finding of facts at the level that we would require.”
On Tuesday, Mr. Norman acknowledged that the Government was “very worried” about the violence that seemed to have occurred on Sunday.
On Sunday, the tension erupted during a nonviolent demonstration in front of the embassy.
In reaction to the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, where President Xi Jinping is generally anticipated to proclaim another five years in power, pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong allegedly organized a nonviolent demonstration in front of the Consulate.
But when between 30 and 40 pro-democracy activists began to hang up posters, fights broke out outside the diplomatic HQ.
China’s foreign ministry caused controversy by denying the protesters’ charges of unfair treatment and asserting that its diplomatic posts overseas had the right to “take appropriate actions” to safeguard security.
Mr. Chan was seen on camera being carried through the gates of the People’s Republic of China Consulate General in Rusholme.
While a police officer struggles to dislodge the attackers off him, he is knocked to the ground and attacked by at least five males.
At the time, Tory MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith called the video “very alarming” and urged Suella Braverman, the home secretary, to “look into this promptly.”
The Chinese ambassador has to fully apologize, he added, and those responsible ought to be returned to China, the official said.
‘I assume that like everything else the cops are perpetually conflicted and are probably concerned about a diplomatic incident,’ he told The Daily Telegraph. But for the love of God, this is on British soil.
The British cops tried to take the protester away but were hesitant to enter the Chinese embassy itself.
Contrary to embassies, consulates are still subject to the host nation’s laws, although they sometimes enjoy additional benefits like legal immunity.
Hornsey and Wood Green’s Labour MP The matter will be brought up in parliament “urgently,” according to Catherine West, who also holds the position of shadow minister for Asia and the Pacific. She also urged the home and foreign secretaries to look into it.
The statement of their colleagues was echoed by Rusholme Councillor Rabnawaz Akbar and MP Andrew Gwynne.
This would be in violation of the Joint Declaration’s requirements to safeguard democratic rights and freedoms and unacceptable on Hong Kong’s streets. The Manchester Evening News was informed by Gwynne that “BUT this is Manchester.”