Greater Manchester Police are continuing to investigate events outside the Chinese Consulate in Manchester last month, with work ongoing by detectives to establish the full circumstances.
A team of investigators from the Major Incident Team has been gathering a range of evidence including CCTV, police body-worn video, mobile phone footage, and witness statements from as many people involved as possible to assist in capturing a rounded understanding of what happened.
Police have identified a number of offences including assaults and public order offences.
These concern events between 2pm and 3pm on Sunday 16 October that left a man in his 30s with several minor physical injuries after being allegedly assaulted in the Consulate grounds.
It followed an initially peaceful protest appearing to escalate, and wide-ranging enquiries include looking into why this was the case.
No other injuries have been reported to us other than a minor physical injury to the hand of our officer who intervened to help remove the man in his 30s from the Consulate grounds out of fear for his safety.
However, police say they are actively seeking – and are hopeful of identifying – other potential victims of incidents that took place during the disturbance.
No arrests have yet been made and enquiries will continue for as long as necessary with support from partners.
Assistant Chief Constable Chris Sykes said: “As we expected from the outset of this investigation, this is a complex inquiry that’s seeing our experienced detectives work diligently to ensure all avenues are being explored and pursued, to bring any identified offenders to justice for their actions that day.
“We’re continuing to gain a clearer understanding of the timeline of events that led to an initially peaceful protest escalating in the way it did, and this has seen us identify a number of offences and potential suspects and victims.
“This is a sensitive but, importantly, an objective investigation that will involve us working for as long as required to speak to all those concerned to achieve as many answers as we possibly can, and we will continue to provide updates where necessary in due course.”
One image on the afternoon appeared to show a protester being dragged into the consulate grounds and placards and pictures being smashed
Footage also shows a man being held while his hair is pulled and fingers are shoved into his eyes. It is alleged that one of the perpetrators many have been the Consul-General himself, Zheng Xiyuan.
