The Chinese consul-general accused of attacking a protester has denied the claims and stated his alleged sufferer was “abusing my country, my leader”.
Top diplomat Zheng Xiyuan was pictured pulling Bob Chan’s hair earlier than yanking him into the Chinese consulate in Manchester.
Mr Zheng informed Sky News that it was his “duty” and he was on the demonstration “peacefully”.
What occurred exterior and on the grounds of the consulate is now the centre of a diplomatic incident.
The pro-democracy protest by Hong Kongers began off peacefully however banners and posters, which the Chinese say they discovered deeply offensive, have been torn down by officers together with the consul basic.
That led to a violent conflict which noticed Bob Chan apparently dragged into the consulate grounds and crushed by its workers – leaving him with cuts and bruises throughout his physique.
But these claims have been refuted by Mr Zheng, who stated: “I didn’t beat anybody. I didn’t let my people beat anybody. The fact is, the so-called protesters beat my people.”
However, when requested concerning the hair pulling incident, he stated: “He (Bob Chan) was abusing my country my leader, I think it’s my duty.”
Mr Zheng added: “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.”
‘They used very impolite phrases – unacceptable’
Asked why the peaceable demonstration turned violent, Mr Zheng claimed it was due to the “rude banners” that had been placed on show.
In a letter despatched to Greater Manchester Police, he said the banners featured a “volume of deeply offensive imagery and slogans”, together with an image of the Chinese president Xi Jinping with a noose round his neck.
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“I think the most serious reason for this incident is because they used very rude banners. They used very rude words, unacceptable. Everybody never accepts these kinds of words,” he informed Sky News.
“It’s not right to put such banners close to my gate. After I advised them to remove very politely, they refused.”
‘I used to be underneath assault’
In his letter, the consul basic additionally stated he was upset police didn’t do extra to assist and claimed one of many protesters grabbed a member of his workers “by the neck and refused to let go” in the course of the ensuing scuffle.
“I was under attack by the protesters and my colleagues were under attack and at that time, we didn’t receive any protection from the policeman, so we had to do something to protect ourselves,” Mr Zheng stated.
He added a few of his workers have been injured in the course of the incident, with video footage displaying a person allegedly from the consulate being kicked by protesters while on the ground.
“It’s a very serious harassment for me, the consulate and China,” he added.
Protester was ‘kicked and punched’
The protester on the centre of the controversy, Bob Chan, fled Hong Kong to the UK for his security final March, however defined how he thought he was going to die in the course of the incident.
“I held onto the gate where I was kicked and punched. I could not hold on for long and was eventually pulled into the grounds of the consulate,” he stated.
“I’m shocked and hurt by this unprovoked attack. I’m shocked because I never thought something like this could happen in the UK.”
But it did occur right here, and it is now a problem on the agenda of the overseas secretary, James Cleverly.
It’ll be all the way down to police to determine if any legal justice motion is required – and for the federal government to find out whether or not there are diplomatic penalties.
Source: information.sky.com”