China removes consul general and five officials involved in beating up Hong Kong protester at Manchester consulate
The Chinese government has “removed” a consul general and five of its officials involved in beating up a Hong Kong protester inside its Manchester consulate.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said his department had a week ago given a deadline of 14 December to the Chinese government for six of its officials to have their diplomatic immunity waived so they could be questioned by British police.
He said: “In response to our request, the Chinese government have now removed from the UK those officials, including the consul general himself.
“This demonstrates that our adherence to the rule of law, the seriousness with which we take these incidents, has had an effect, and we will continue on the world stage and domestically to abide by the rule of law, and we expect others to do likewise.”
He said the consul general, Zheng Xiyuan, has already returned to China, as have some of the officials while the rest will do shortly.
The consul general’s wife remains in the UK and a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in London said Mr Zheng’s “term of office has expired and he has recently transferred back to China – this is the normal rotation of Chinese personnel”.
The spokesman added that the British government had failed to fulfil its obligations under international law to protect its consulate premises and personnel.
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Using videos shot from different angles of the violence at the Chinese consulate in Manchester, Sky News shows what actually happened.
‘It doesn’t feel like a victory’
Hong Kong pro-democracy protester Bob Chan, who fled Hong Kong last March, was demonstrating peacefully outside the consulate in October when he was pulled into the grounds and beaten up by staff.
Mr Zheng was pictured pulling Mr Chan’s hair before yanking him inside the consulate.
On Wednesday, Mr Chan told Sky News: “It doesn’t feel like a victory because the people who attacked me including the consul general should have faced justice here in the UK. Instead they have run away. It’s not fair because they have freedom now.”
He added: “I’m also worried they can return to the UK. The British government haven’t said that they will stop them if they try to return – I will not feel safe until they do that.”
Mr Chan also said his injuries were still causing him pain and discomfort.
“My body aches when I sit for too long and I get tired easily because of the force they used to injure me.”
“It doesn’t feel like a victory because the people who attacked me including the consul general should have faced justice here in the UK. Instead they have run away. It’s not fair because they have freedom now.”
Mr Chan previously told Sky News he thought he was going to die and was left with injuries to his body and face from being kicked and punched before a British police officer pulled him out of the gates.
The incident caused a row between MPs as some accused ministers of not reacting proportionately because of trade possibilities with China.
But Mr Cleverly said on Wednesday: “When China behaves in a way that we fundamentally disagree with, we raise it directly with China.
“I did so earlier on this year when I had a meeting with [Chinese foreign minister] Wang Yi highlighting our objection to Chinese behaviour in Xinjiang with the Uyghur Muslim minority, their failure to abide by the commitments made over Hong Kong, and indeed the sanctioning of my parliamentary colleagues here in the UK.
“We also did so in response to this incident, and it is right that the Chinese government have now removed these officials from the UK.”
Luke de Pulford, executive director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said: “The foreign secretary should be congratulated for taking this action.
“It’s just a shame it took so long when the footage of the assault was so clear for all to see from day one. We should not be so fearful of holding China to account for its abuses in the future. Hong Kong-ers seeking refuge in the UK will sleep a little easier tonight.”
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Protester on ‘assault’ at China consulate in Manchester
‘Outrageous’ response to videos where Mr Chan was dragged and hit
Greater Manchester Police said on Wednesday it is continuing to investigate the alleged assault, adding it had identified a “number of offences” including numerous assaults and public order offences.
Diplomatic staff at foreign embassies usually have immunity from arrest and prosecution, especially if an incident happens in their consulates or embassies.
But senior MPs, including Tory Iain Duncan Smith, who is sanctioned by China, said the British government’s response was “outrageous” after Mr Cleverly said he had spoken to China’s charge d’affaires, Yang Xiaoguang over the incident.
He and other MPs from across the Commons called for ministers to expel the diplomats identified in videos dragging and hitting Mr Chan, and also pulling his hair.
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Consul general: Protester ‘was abusing my country’
Consul general Mr Zheng told Sky News he did not beat anybody up but when asked if he pulled Mr Chan into the consulate by his hair, he said: “He (Bob Chan) was abusing my country, my leader, I think it’s my duty.
“I think it’s an emergency situation – that guy threatened my colleague’s life, and we tried to control the situation. I wanted to separate him from my colleagues – that’s a very critical point.”
Asked why the peaceful demonstration turned violent, Mr Zheng claimed it was because of the “rude banners” that had been put on display.
In a letter sent to Greater Manchester Police, he stated the banners featured a “volume of deeply offensive imagery and slogans”, including a picture of the Chinese president Xi Jinping with a noose around his neck.
At least 11 people have been killed and 63 injured in an Israeli strike on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities have said.
Lebanon‘s health ministry said the death toll could rise as emergency workers dug through the rubble looking for survivors. DNA tests are being used to identify the victims, the ministry added.
State-run National News Agency (NNA) said the attack “completely destroyed” an eight-storey residential building in the Basta neighbourhood early on Saturday.
Footage broadcast by Lebanon’s Al Jadeed station also showed at least one destroyed building and several others badly damaged around it.
The central Basta neighbourhood in Beirut, where four people were killed in an Israeli airstrike
The Israeli military did not warn residents to evacuate before the attack – the fourth targeting the centre this week.
At least four bombs were dropped in the attack, security sources told Reuters news agency.
The blasts happened at about 4am (2am UK time).
A seperate drone strike in the southern port cuty of Tyre this morning killed one person and injured another, according to the NNA.
The blasts came after a day of bombardment of Beirut’s southern suburbs and Tyre. The Israeli military had issued evacuation notices prior to those strikes.
Pic: AP
Israel has killed several Hezbollah leaders in air strikes on the capital’s southern suburbs.
Heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is ongoing in southern Lebanon, as Israeli forces push deeper into the country since launching a major offensive in September.
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‘Dozens’ of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike
US envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region this week to try to end more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, ignited last October by the war in Gaza.
Mr Hochstein indicated progress had been made after meetings in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, before going to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz.
According to the Lebanese health ministry, Israel has killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon and wounded more than 15,000.
It has displaced about 1.2 million people – a quarter of Lebanon’s population – while Israel says about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed in northern Israel.
World
Vladimir Putin vows to increase production of Russia’s ‘unstoppable’ missile – as NATO and Ukraine to hold talks
President Vladimir Putin has said Russia will ramp up the production of a new, hypersonic ballistic missile.
In a nationally-televised speech, Mr Putin said the intermediate-range Oreshnik missile was used in an attack on Ukrainian city Dnipro in retaliation for Ukraine’s use of US and British missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory.
Referring to the Oreshnik, the Russian president said: “No one in the world has such weapons.
“Sooner or later other leading countries will also get them. We are aware that they are under development.”
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He added: “We have this system now. And this is important.”
Detailing the missile’s alleged capabilities, Mr Putin claimed it is so powerful that using several fitted with conventional warheads in one attack could be as devastating as a strike with nuclear weapons.
General Sergei Karakayev, head of Russia’s strategic missile forces, said the Oreshnik could reach targets across Europe and be fitted with either nuclear or conventional warheads – while Mr Putin alleged Western air defence systems will not be able to stop the missiles.
Mr Putin said of the Oreshnik: “There is no countermeasure to such a missile, no means of intercepting it, in the world today. And I will emphasise once again that we will continue testing this newest system. It is necessary to establish serial production.”
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Testing the Oreshnik will happen “in combat, depending on the situation and the character of security threats created for Russia“, the president added, stating there is “a stockpile of such systems ready for use”.
NATO and Ukraine are expected to hold emergency talks on Tuesday.
Meanwhile Ukraine’s parliament cancelled a session as security was tightened following the strike on Dnipro, a central city with a population of around one million. No fatalities were reported.
EU leaders condemn Russia’s ‘heinous attacks’
Numerous EU leaders have addressed Russia’s escalation of the conflict with Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk saying the war is “entering a decisive phase [and] taking on very dramatic dimensions”.
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Russia’s new missile – what does it mean?
Speaking in Kyiv, Czech foreign minister Jan Lipavsky called Moscow’s strike an “escalatory step and an attempt of the Russian dictator to scare the population of Ukraine and to scare the population of Europe”.
At a news conference, Mr Lipavsky gave his full support for delivering the additional air defence systems needed to protect Ukrainian civilians from the “heinous attacks”.
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