Fury as Hong Kong pro-democracy protester beaten at Chinese consulate
Police are investigating an assault on a Hong Kong pro-democracy protester who had to be rescued by officers after being beaten in the grounds of the Chinese consulate in Manchester.
Foreign secretary James Cleverly has been urged to demand answers over the scenes at the gates of the building, where 30 to 40 demonstrators had gathered as the 20th Communist party congress was beginning in Beijing.
They put up posters – including a caricature of the Chinese president Xi Jinping wearing a crown.
The assault victim, named only as Bob, told the BBC the posters were pulled down before he was dragged inside the consulate grounds and punched and kicked by a group of men. ‘It’s ridiculous.They shouldn’t have done that,’ he added. ‘We are supposed to have freedom to say whatever we want here.’
Video footage showed police coming to his rescue but Bob spent the night in hospital after suffering several injuries.
Downing Street said the reports of the attack on Sunday were ‘extremely concerning’.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said he would wait to hear the results of the police inquiry.
But he added: ‘I want to make clear that it is never acceptable for peaceful protesters to be assaulted and those responsible need to be held to account for their actions.’
Senior Tory Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the government should request an apology from the Chinese ambassador and Bob’s attackers should be sent back to China.
And shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said: ‘The foreign secretary should urgently summon the Chinese ambassador to demand an explanation.’ Exiled Hong Kong politician Nathan Law tweeted: ‘Foreign and home secretaries must investigate.’
A spokesperson for the consulate told the BBC the protesters had ‘hung an insulting portrait of the Chinese president’. They added: ‘This would be intolerable and unacceptable for any diplomatic and consular missions of any country. Therefore, we condemn this deplorable act.’
Chinese censors have previously sought to protect the president’s image by banning Winnie-the-Pooh images from social media to stop users likening him to the plump, bumbling bear.
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