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.
World
UN’s Antonio Guterres condemns ‘teaspoon’ of aid allowed into Gaza after dozens die in airstrikes
The head of the UN has said Israel has only authorised for Gaza what amounts to a “teaspoon” of aid after at least 60 people died in overnight airstrikes.
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said on Friday the supplies approved so far “amounts to a teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required,” adding “the needs are massive and the obstacles are staggering”.
He warned that more people will die unless there is “rapid, reliable, safe and sustained aid access”.
A woman at the site of an Israeli strike in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
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Gaza: ‘Loads of children with huge burns’
Israel says around 300 aid trucks have been allowed through since it lifted an 11-week blockade on Monday, but according to Mr Guterres, only about a third have been transported to warehouses within Gaza due to insecurity.
The IDF said 107 vehicles carrying flour, food, medical equipment and drugs were allowed through on Thursday.
Many of Gaza’s two million residents are at high risk of famine, experts have warned.
Meanwhile, at least 60 people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes across Gaza overnight.
Ten people died in the southern city of Khan Younis, and deaths were also reported in the central town of Deir al-Balah and the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north, according to the Nasser, Al-Aqsa and Al-Ahli hospitals where the bodies were brought.
A body is carried out of rubble after an Israeli strike in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
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‘Almost everyone depends on aid’ in Gaza
The latest strikes came a day after two Israeli embassy workers were killed in Washington.
The suspect, named as 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, Illinois, told police he “did it for Gaza”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney of fuelling antisemitism following the shootings.
The leaders of the UK, France and Canada are “on the wrong side of humanity and (…) history”, he said, after they threatened “concrete action” against Israel this week if it continues its “egregious” military operations in Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu also accused Sir Keir, Mr Macron and Mr Carney of siding with “mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers”.
Palestinians search for casualties in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
But UK government minister Luke Pollard told Sky News on Friday morning he “doesn’t recognise” Mr Netanyahu’s accusation.
Earlier this week, Mr Netanyahu said he was recalling negotiators from the Qatari capital, Doha, after a week of ceasefire talks failed to bring results. A working team will remain.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251 others.
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The militants are still holding 58 captives, around a third of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s offensive, which has destroyed large swaths of Gaza, has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
A woman has been arrested after 12 people were reportedly injured in a stabbing at Hamburg’s central train station in Germany.
An attacker armed with a knife targeted people on the platform between tracks 13 and 14, according to police.
They added that the suspect was a 39-year-old woman.
Police at the scene. Pic: AP
Officers said they “believe she acted alone” and investigations into the stabbing are continuing.
There was no immediate information on a possible motive.
The fire service said six of the injured were in a life-threatening condition, three others were seriously hurt, and another three sustained minor injuries, news agency dpa reported.
The attack happened shortly after 6pm local time (5pm UK time) on Friday in front of a waiting train, regional public broadcaster NDR reported.
A high-speed ICE train with its doors open could be seen at the platform after the incident.
Railway operator Deutsche Bahn said it was “deeply shocked” by what had happened.
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Four tracks at the station were closed in the evening, and some long-distance trains were delayed or diverted.
Hamburg is Germany‘s second biggest city, with the train station being a hub for local, regional and long-distance trains.
In mid-May, the World Health Organisation assessed that there were “nearly half a million people in a catastrophic situation of hunger, acute malnutrition, starvation, illness and death”.
“This is one of the world’s worst hunger crises, unfolding in real time,” its report concluded.
Warning: This article contains images of an emaciated child which some readers may find distressing
Israel‘s decision this week to reverse the siege and allow “a basic level of aid” into Gaza should help ease the immediate crisis.
But the number of aid trucks getting in, so far fewer than 100 per day, is considered dramatically too few by aid organisations working in Gaza, and the United Nations accuses Israel of continuing to block vital items.
Israel-Gaza latest: Gaza enduring ‘atrocious death and destruction’, UN boss warns
“Strict quotas are being imposed on the goods we distribute, along with unnecessary delay procedures,” said UN secretary general Antonio Guterres in New York on Friday.
“Essentials, including fuel, shelter, cooking gas and water purification supplies, are prohibited. Nothing has reached the besieged north.”
Nineteen of Gaza’s hospitals remain operational, all of them are overwhelmed with the number of patients and a lack of supplies.
Baby Aya at Rantisi hospital in northern Gaza is dangerously thin
“Today, we receive between 300 to 500 cases daily, with approximately 10% requiring admission. This volume of inpatient cases far exceeds the capacity of Rantisi hospital, as the facility is not equipped to accommodate such large numbers,” Jall al Barawi, a doctor at the hospital, told us.
At least 94% of the hospitals have sustained some damage, some considerable, according to the UN.
Jall al Barawi, a doctor at Rantisi hospital
Paramedic crews are close to running out of fuel to drive ambulances.
The lack of food, after an 11-week blockade, has left thousands malnourished and increasingly vulnerable to surviving injuries or recovering from other conditions.
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Children are the worst affected.
Our team in Gaza filmed with baby Aya at the Rantisi hospital in northern Gaza. She is now three months old and dangerously thin.
Her skin stretches over her cheekbones and eye sockets on her gaunt, pale face. Her nappy is too big for her emaciated little body.
Aya’s nappy is too big for her emaciated little body.
Lethal spiral
Her mother Sundush, who is only 19 herself, cannot get enough food to produce breastmilk. Baby formula is scarce.
Aya, like so many other young children, cannot get the vital nutrition she needs to grow and develop.
It’s a lethal spiral.
This is what Aya looked like shortly after she was born
“My daughter was born at a normal weight, 3.5kg,” Sundush tells us.
“But as the war went on, her weight dropped significantly. I would breastfeed her, she’d get diarrhoea. I tried formula – same result. With the borders closed and no food coming in, I can’t eat enough to give her the nutrients she needs.”
“I brought her to the hospital for treatment, but the care she needs isn’t available.
“The doctor said her condition is very serious. I really don’t want to lose her, because I lost my husband and she’s all I have left of him. I don’t want to lose her.”
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Aya and her mother Sundush
Some of the aid entering Gaza now is being looted. It is hard to know whether that is by Hamas or desperate civilians. Maybe a combination of the two.
The lack of aid creates an atmosphere of desperation, which eventually leads to a breakdown in security as everyone fights to secure food for themselves and their families.
Only by alleviating the desperation can the security situation improve, and the risk of famine abate.
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