PRC consulate staff with suspected consul general Zheng Xiyuan (鄭曦原) physically attacked one protestor, dragged the person's hair and put fingers into his eyes. One policeman in Manchester is rescuing the protestors who were being dragged into the Consulate area.
China Consulate in Manchester Drags Hong Kong Protesters Inside Gate and Assaults Them, Damaging Props and Tearing Out Hair
At the China Consulate in Manchester, UK yesterday (Oct 16), a group of Hongkongers gathered for a peaceful protest as the Chinese Communist Party (#CCP) Congress begins in Beijing.
Less than 2 minutes after a protester began a speech, however, several consulate staff, dressed in riot helmets and body armor, rushed out at the gathered crowd. The staff began destroying protest props and posters, and dragged at least one protester into the consulate grounds from outside the gate. A scuffle quickly developed.
Several consulate staff was seen surrounding and beating one protester that they pulled inside the consulate gates, holding down the victim and apparently tearing out a handful of hair, discarding it in a pile of signs that they had snatched from protesters:
Police officers quickly intervened, rescuing several protesters that had been dragged into the consulate grounds. They quickly formed a line to prevent consulate staff from any further attempts at abducting protesters.
Bob, a Hongkonger at the protest, had several cuts on his face from the altercation with consulate staff. He told Chaser News that he saw at least 6 men came out "looking to beat up people". Sensing trouble, he stepped up to stop them, "but they dragged me inside and beat me up."
He said he was punched and kicked by the men, with injuries all over his body, and thought that he might die there. Fortunately a police officer went inside the consulate grounds and rescued him. The officers later told him that once the gate was closed, they wouldn't be able to do anything.
The man in the trench coat and face mask who came out to kick down the protesters' banners caught the attention of netizens, who noted his similar appearance to Consul-General Zhen Xiyuan in multiple pictures. He was also seen patting the back of one staff member in an armor vest as they retreated after their assault.
In a tweet sharing the video of the beating, Alicia Kearns, MP for Rutland and Melton, calls for the UK government to urgently investigate their violence on British soil and their violation of free speech. "Chinese Ambassador should be summoned and if any officials has beaten protesters, they must be expelled or prosecuted."
The activist group Hong Kong Indigenous Defence Force sharply criticized the Chinese Consulate's actions. As consulates are sovereign territory of its represented state, if they were allowed to drag citizens into the consulate grounds, then it meant they could forcibly abduct and detain anyone in Britain who displeased them. The group urges the world to "seriously re-examine the legitimacy of the CCP's overseas consulates".
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