British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly revealed on Wednesday that China had recalled six diplomats from its Manchester consulate who assaulted a Hong Kong pro-democracy protestor in October, including Consul General Zheng Xiyuan.
Cleverly said that the diplomats left the United Kingdom (UK) just before Wednesday’s deadline, when the British government was set to waive their diplomatic immunity and allow police authorities to question them about the incident. The Vienna Convention on consular relations grants immunity to all foreign diplomats and their families from arrest and conviction.
While expressing his disappointment that the individuals could not be interviewed and tried by British authorities, he said it was fitting that the consular staff responsible for the “disgraceful scenes” and “unacceptable behvariour” are no longer in the country.
“The right of free expression – including the right to protest and to speak one’s mind – is absolutely essential to our democratic life,” he emphasised.
The violence at China’s consulate in Manchester was unacceptable.
— James Cleverly🇬🇧 (@JamesCleverly) December 14, 2022
6 Chinese consulate officials, including the Consul General, are being removed from the UK following the disgraceful incident in October. pic.twitter.com/nxyqtJ1627
The diplomats include the consul general, who was seen at the scene of the protest tearing down posters. He held the post since 2018 and previously defended his actions as his “duty” to act against those insulting China.
The Chinese embassy in London released a statement on Wednesday denouncing Cleverly’s remarks and saying the protest was a “violent disruptive provocation deliberately stated by anti-China elements.” It claimed that the demonstrators “illegally intruded into the consulate premises and assaulted consulate officials.”
It thus accused the British government of ‘siding with the rioters’, saying it “has shown “no respect for justice and the rule of law, and is being most irresponsible and disgraceful.”
The Greater Manchester Police has vowed to continue to look into the incident; it has yet to make any arrests.
The UK Government @10DowningStreet must demand a full apology from the Chinese Ambassador to the UK @AmbZhengZeguang and demand those responsible are sent home to China. @SuellaBraverman https://t.co/9nBgJqHIvo
— Iain Duncan Smith MP (@MPIainDS) October 16, 2022
British authorities launched an investigation into the incident after Hong Kong native Bob Chan accused several unidentified men of attacking him during a pro-democracy protest outside the Chinese consulate in Manchester. He said that he was “dragged” into the consulate’s premises, where he was “beat up” by men he alleged were from mainland China. He later escaped with the help of police and other protesters.
The group organised the protest in conjunction with the 20th Communist Party Congress in Beijing, during which Xi Jinping was appointed for his third term as president. The consulate claimed the protesters were holding up “insulting portraits” of Xi.
Several Conservative Members of Parliament (MP) celebrated the Chinese diplomats’ departure. The chief of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Alicia Kearns, who recently visited Taiwan, said that they had “fled the UK like cowards, making clear their guilt.” She added that the Chinese envoys must be declared as persona non grata to prevent their entry into the UK in the future.
Embassy Spokesperson on the Violent Disruption of the Chinese Consulate General in Manchester
— Chinese Embassy in UK (@ChineseEmbinUK) December 14, 2022
Full texthttps://t.co/0Y56y1L0un pic.twitter.com/jDZYLI1eD0
Conversely, Iain Duncan Smith said that while the consular members should have been “kicked out weeks ago,” their return to China did not count as justice.
Similarly, the coordinator of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, Luke de Pulford, said that the UK government had taken the “wrong route.”
“We have to be stronger in the face of China’s growing diplomatic hubris and not let them off with a slapped wrist like this,” he said.
Chan, however, celebrated their departure, noting that it gave him a “sense of closure.” Nevertheless, he said their return “doesn’t feel like a victory,” as his attackers had “run away” instead of facing justice in the UK. He added that he was concerned that the diplomats could return to the country..
The diplomatic tiff comes amid increasingly souring UK-China relations. In November, British PM Rishi Sunak declared the end of the “golden era” of ties with China during his first speech on his foreign policy route. In addition, Kearns has called China a “terrorist state,” saying the two countries are already at war.
Moreover, Kearns’ recent visit to China came just a few weeks after Minister of State for Trade Policy Greg Hand’s trip to the island nation.
Sunak has referred to China as a “systemic competitor” and the UK’s “biggest state-based threat to our economic security.” He has also previously said China is the “largest threat to Britain and the world’s security,” denouncing its debt-trap diplomacy in developing countries, espionage activities, and predatory business acquisitions in the UK. He has also spoken out against China’s rights abuses in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, saying it “tortures, detains, and indoctrinates” its own citizens.
Likewise, during MI5’s annual threat update, intelligence chief Ken McCallum said “the activities of the Chinese Communist Party pose the most game-changing strategic challenge to the UK.”
“The Chinese authorities use all the means at their disposal to monitor—and where they deem necessary intimidate—the Chinese diaspora. This takes place all over the world, from coercing and forcibly repatriating Chinese nationals to harassment and assault,” he remarked.
Sunak has vowed to “expand” MI5’s “reach” to ensure greater protection to British businesses and universities against Chinese “industrial espionage” in order to safeguard intellectual property.
The UK’s relationship with China has also deteriorated over the last few years, particularly under the Johnson administration, under whom it took various steps to toughen its stance on China, including: introducing a new law to reduce Chinese acquisition of British businesses, opening the door to nearly three million people fleeing Hong Kong over the imposition of the national security law; banning Chinese telecommunications company Huawei from the UK’s 5G network; slashing aid to China by 95%; joining the AUKUS partnership with the United States (US) and Australia; and voicing concerns about human rights abuses in Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet.
More recently, it has introduced restrictions on Chinese companies’ involvement in tech infrastructure and also said it will ban all 30 Chinese-funded Confucius Institutes in the country.
These developments reportedly led to Chinese President Xi Jinping cancelling his meeting with Sunak along the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali last month.