According to UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, the Chinese government “removed” a Consul General and five other diplomats on Wednesday who were involved in the beating of a pro-democracy Hong Kong activist inside the Chinese Consulate in Manchester.
Cleverly explained that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) had given the Chinese government until December 14 to waive the diplomatic immunity of the six officials so that they could be questioned by British police about the incident.
It came in response to a request from the Greater Manchester Police team looking into the incident. The Chinese government has now expelled those officials from the UK in response to our request, including the consul general himself.
“This demonstrates that our adherence to the rule of law, the seriousness with which we take these incidents, has had an effect, and we will continue on the world stage and domestically to abide by the rule of law, and we expect others to do likewise,” he said.
The others are travelling back, although Consul General Zheng Xiyuan has already departed the UK.
It follows an incident two months ago involving pro-democracy protester Bob Chan, who was injured after being dragged onto the consulate grounds and beaten by men on October 16.
