[Epoch Times, October 18, 2022](Epoch Times reporter Xu Jian comprehensive report) On Tuesday (October 18), the United Kingdom summoned Chinese diplomats over the beating incident in the Chinese consulate in Manchester. The British Parliament also raised an “urgent question” on the matter that day, and several MPs pointed out that the Chinese Consul General in Manchester (Zheng Xiyuan) actively participated in the beating.
Britain summons CCP diplomats to express views
On Tuesday, the UK Foreign Office summoned a senior Chinese diplomat and asked him to explain the “obvious scenes of violence” in Manchester City.
That afternoon, Zac Goldsmith, a foreign minister, said: “Today we made our point to the Chinese authorities: the right to protest peacefully in the UK must be respected.”
According to videos that have been circulating on social media, Hong Kong residents in the UK have erected several protest banners outside the consulate in Manchester, one of which reads “Heaven destroys the CCP” and another reads “Mother He Qu”.
In the video, a white-haired man wearing a dark blue beret, glasses, a mask and a scarf walked out of the consulate, kicked the slogan “Heaven destroys the CCP”, and then tore off the “Mother He Qu”. slogans and shove Hong Kong people.
In another picture widely circulated by the media, several people from the Chinese consulate forcefully dragged a Hong Kong man into the consulate site. The “white-haired man” grabbed the Hong Kong man’s hair, while a British policeman struggled Pull the people of Hong Kong out.
The identities of these beating men were circulated on the Internet, claiming that these men were senior officials such as consul general, deputy consul general, consul, counselor, etc. Some netizens said, “Is this a diplomatic mission or a rogue gang? This kind of person can be a diplomat, The miracle of Xi Jinping’s new era.” The Epoch Times could not independently confirm the identities of these people.
The Manchester Chinese consulate assault.
Here are the perps. @trussliz you know what you have to do.From left to right:
Consul General Zheng Xiyuan
Consul Gao Lianjia
Counsellor Chen Wei
Deputy Consul General Fan Yingjie pic.twitter.com/O85LHxaJ5q— Father Ted Crilly (@TedCrilly666) October 17, 2022
Greater Manchester Police said the Hong Kong national was forcibly pulled into the consulate and attacked. “Fearing for the man’s safety, our police intervened and pulled the victim from the consulate’s premises,” police said.
British MP accuses CCP consul general of beating people and calls for expulsion
Alicia Kearns, a Conservative MP and chair of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, told a parliamentary session, according to a video recording of the British Parliament on Tuesday, “What we’re seeing is that the Chinese (CCP) consul general ( Zheng Xiyuan) tore up posters, persecuted peaceful protests, and a Hong Konger was seriously injured and taken to hospital.”
She also said the CCP officials who beat people had been “identified” and “all members of the Chinese Communist Party.”
Kearns wants the foreign minister to promise parliament that “Chinese officials who beat people will be prosecuted”, and if they are not prosecuted, they will be “expelled within a week”, and that the foreign minister will explain how to protect future protests, Because that’s a fundamental right that Britain has to uphold.
Labour’s shadow government Asia-Pacific minister, MP Catherine West, told parliament she was “pressing the foreign minister”. What happened to the consular officials identified as being involved in the beatings? Can the House of Representatives expect them to be expelled from the UK? Or UK ministries to put in place plans to provide strong support for Hong Kongers across the country to ensure they are protected.
Former Conservative Party leader and MP Iain Duncan Smith said that he had obtained testimony from Hong Kong people who were beaten. The victim said at least four people kicked and beat him, tore his hair, and now his body Multiple pains and difficulty sitting down.
Smith asked the foreign minister, “Is the government ready to expel the consul general (Zheng Xiyuan), and others involved in the beatings and vandalism? The simple answer I want is – if the evidence is conclusive, we will expel them.”
Labour MP Jeff Smith said: “My voters in South Manchester are absolutely appalled by the video.” “If a senior consulate officer of a country attacks peaceful protesters on the streets of Manchester, deal with it.” The only way to do this, of course, is to expel them.”
Jim Shannon of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said the CCP “doesn’t respect the rule of law and acts aggressively. They think they can do whatever they want and get away with it. We should tell them in Parliament – there’s no way” .
“If the consul general led the attack, he should be declared persona non grata, and he returned to mainland China with the rest of the people involved, and that’s where they should be,” Shannon said.
China’s foreign ministry has yet to comment on Zheng Xiyuan’s alleged involvement. But defended the consulate’s actions. CCP spokesman Wang Wenbin claimed that Hong Kong people had “illegally entered” the consulate, “endangering the security of Chinese (CCP) diplomatic offices”. The day before, Wang Wenbin said that he did not understand the situation, but claimed that “the Chinese (CCP) embassy and consulate in the UK always abides by the laws of the host country.”
Responsible editor: Lin Yan#