Chinese Embassy Issues Threats to UK Over Manchester Consulate Incident

A general view of the Chinese Consulate General in Manchester, England, on Oct. 19, 2022. Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

The Chinese embassy in London issued a threat to the UK government on Thursday as Chinese diplomats may be expelled over the alleged assault of a Hong Kong protester at the Consulate General in Manchester.

In a YouTube video titled “Online Press Conference on the Violent Harassment of the Chinese Consulate General in Manchester,” Chargé d’affaires Yang Xiaoguan said, “protecting shelter to the Hong Kong independent elements will only, in the end, bring disaster to Britain.”

Yang also cited the trade relations between the UK and China, before saying “a few number of people” are “trying to provoke confrontation” between the countries, adding, “this is dangerous and this is bad for both sides.”

It comes after a British minister said Chinese Diplomats at the Consulate General in Manchester will be prosecuted or face “diplomatic consequences” if police find they have committed crimes when beating Hong Kong pro-democracy protester Bob Chan.

Beating Protester at Consulate General

Chan, who was attending a protest outside the consulate on Oct. 16, was dragged onto the consular ground and beaten by a group of masked men who came from the consulate to take a banner by force. The banner depicts a caricature of Chinese leader Xi Jinping as an emperor wearing no clothes.

Some of Chan’s hair was ripped off. He also sustained minor injuries on his head and body.

A man who appeared to be a consular staff member was filmed lying on the ground and being kicked several times during the scuffle. By Oct. 19, the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) on said they had not received reports of other injuries.

Consul General Zheng Xiyuan was seen at the scene, kicking and knocking over banners and pulling Chan’s hair.

He later admitted to pulling Chan’s hair, telling Sky News it was his “duty” because the protester had insulted his country and his leader. He also claimed that a man had threatened his colleague’s life.

The GMP has launched an investigation into Chan’s alleged assault.

Following Zheng’s admission, some MPs called on the government to immediately declare Consul General Zheng Xiyuan persona non grata.

In response, then Foreign Office minister Jesse Norman told MPs, “If the police determined that there are grounds to charge any officials, we would expect the Chinese Consulate to waive immunity for those officials. If they do not, then diplomatic consequences will follow.”

Threats on Sino-British Trade

Yang on Thursday described the protesters as “Hong Kong independent elements,” a label commonly used in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) domestic propaganda. Similar labels are also used on Uyghur and Tibetan dissidents and Taiwanese who do not follow the CCP’s narrative.

He also said Hong Kong independence is “an activity aimed at splitting China and condemned by the 1.4 billion Chinese people,” another routine response to dissenting voices and external criticisms.

Yang drew a parallel between the UK and Hong Kong migrants and the “farmer and the stake in Aesop’s tales,” saying, “protecting shelter to the Hong Kong independent elements will only, in the end, bring disaster to Britain.”

He urged the UK government to “solve this issue according to the merit of decision and not to make wrong decisions under political pressure from a few people,” and said the embassy had “requested the British side to provide enough protection for the Chinese diplomatic missions in the UK in the future.”

He cited the two countries’ membership and the U.N. Security Council, and listed the “mutually beneficial” trade relationships between the UK and China, accusing “a few number of people”—a commonly used phrase to describe dissident groups—of provoking confrontation.

In 2020, the Chinese authorities disrupted the exports of Australian beef, wine, barley, lobster, timber, iron ore, and cotton soon after the Australian government led the charge for an inquiry into the origins and handling of the early outbreak of the novel coronavirus, which emerged from Wuhan, although Beijing denied that it’s targeting Australia.

Victoria Kelly-Clark contributed to this report.