China’s ‘Diplomat’ Gets Violent

The consul general reportedly attacked a protester in England

Iain Duncan Smith, the former leader of the British Conservative Party, and Bob Chan, the Hongkonger who was dragged into the Chinese Consulate, at a press conference in London on Oct. 19, 2022. Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

Commentary

On Oct. 16, one of China’s consul generals in England reportedly stormed through a group of pro-democracy protesters in Manchester, kicking and tearing down posters, and pulling a man by the hair onto the consulate grounds. There, a consulate enforcement squad, some of whom wore riot gear, brutally beat the protester.

The victim came from Hong Kong, which, since 1997, has suffered under Beijing’s rule.

The protest coincided with the opening of the twice-a-decade Chinese Communist Party (CCP) congress in Beijing, where Xi Jinping was expected to be given an unprecedented third term.

Earlier in the day, Xi made a “triumphalist and combative” speech, calling on Chinese officials to show “fighting spirit” in their work. The consul general was probably watching.

The violence by “diplomats,” who thereafter emerged from the consulate, targeted art depicting Xi as an emperor who wears no clothes. The artist depicts Xi admiring himself with the false belief that he represents 1.4 billion Chinese people.

The consul general suspected in the violence, Zheng Xiyuan, wore a beret and was accompanied by thugs who attempted to bring the banner of Xi back into the consulate.

A scuffle broke out to retrieve it, and a protester was dragged onto the consulate grounds while one of the thugs was kicked on the ground. Zheng was filmed pulling the protester, Bob Chan, into the compound by his hair, after which he was beaten by the thugs.

Chan called the violence “barbaric.”

Hongkongers holding a rally outside the Chinese Consulate in Manchester, UK, were dragged into the consulate and beaten by the staff, on Oct. 16, 2022. Screenshot of Hong Kong Indigenous Defense Force

Eventually, one officer heroically entered the consulate grounds to halt the beating and retrieve the protester.

During a Sky News interview that followed, the consul general was asked about the hair-pulling, which he initially didn’t deny, saying it was an “emergency situation” in which he tried to protect his colleague’s life. Then, he claimed not to have attacked anybody. When confronted with the photographic evidence of hair-pulling, he said the victim “abused my country, my leader,” and that “it’s my duty” as it would be for “any diplomats, if faced with such kind of behavior.”

Chan later told the BBC: “It’s ridiculous. They [the attackers] shouldn’t have done that. We are supposed to have the freedom to say whatever we want here [in the UK].”

Another eyewitness told CNN that the consul general was “out of his mind and he wasn’t thinking before act[ing].”

British government ministers are being accused, including by members of their own Conservative Party, of a “totally inadequate” response to the violence.

Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith said the government should tell China’s diplomats that “if they do not follow [British] rules, they get expelled.”

Natalie Bennett, a Green Party peer, wrote on Twitter, “Those in the consulate responsible must not be allowed to remain in the UK and China must apologise.”

Manchester is the latest incident of Beijing’s “wolf warrior” diplomacy gone mad and now combined with its transnational repression. The CCP appears to simultaneously encourage this behavior among its diplomats and then cover it up when it causes outrage abroad.

Bob Chan, the Hong Kong resident who was involved in the Chinese Consulate in Manchester incident, held his first public press conference in London on Oct. 19, 2022. He said at a conference that he was dragged into the Chinese consulate and beaten by several men, causing him to be hospitalized with injuries. Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

Beijing has established 54 “secret police stations” around the world, according to the nongovernmental organization Safeguard Defenders, including in New York; Toronto; Tokyo; Paris; London; Dublin; Rome, Athens, Greece; Frankfurt, Germany; Madrid; and Amsterdam.

They supposedly target transnational crime, which is broadly defined by the Chinese regime to include some free speech at odds with CCP dogma, including that practiced in Manchester. Like the Manchester violence, they invite an illegitimate use of force on foreign soil by an illegitimate government.

Family members of those targeted are intimidated to “persuade” the targets to return to China, where they could face torture, imprisonment, or worse, according to Safeguard Defenders.

From April 2021 to July 2022, the regime arrested 230,000 people, mostly from Southeast Asia, according to the NGO.

“These operations eschew official bilateral police and judicial cooperation and violate the international rule of law, and may violate the territorial integrity of third countries involved in setting up a parallel policing mechanism using illegal methods,” the report states.

That sounds like Manchester.

No person, regardless of diplomatic status, should have the right to commit violence without consequence against those conducting free speech activities.

Beijing’s international thuggery and “police” violence must end. The CCP is illegitimate—and so is its extension of thuggery around the world.

Any of China’s consul generals who see it as their duty to limit free speech in their host countries through violence or other means should be sent home. Allowing CCP thugs to masquerade as diplomats representing 1.4 billion Chinese people just buys into their lies and empowers their crimes.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.