Police were called after a demonstration outside the Chinese Consulate in Rusholme on turned ugly
One image 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.
The protest was led by pro democracy supporters supporting Hong Kong’s right to self govern and in response to the 20th National Congress of Chinese Communist Party being held over the weekend
One witness said that less than two minutes into a protest speech, a bunch of people with riot protective gear rushed out from the consulate and took a large protest painting placed outside the consulate.
Protesters tried to stop them and were beaten, they even grabbed one HongKonger into the Consulate area and besieged.
The police immediately ran into the Consulate area and grabbed the man then guarded the outside the consulate to prevent the same happen again.
In a statement the Hong Kong Indigenous Defence Force said they were shocked by the incident, and strongly condemned the rogue regime of the Chinese Communist Party, that they dare to violently interfere the peaceful assemblies in the UK, illegally stealing huge paintings from the UK HongKongers, illegally attacking UK HongKongers in public, and even trying to illegally imprison the UK HongKongers.
Hong Kong Watch’s Patron Lord Alton of Liverpool urged Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly to “establish the facts surrounding this violent assault” and called on the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham to “insist that Manchester Police give the city’s Hong Kong citizens protection and bring the assailants to justice.” He later tweeted that if the Consul-General was proven to be involved, the UK government “should demand he pack his bags and leave now”.
Catherine West MP, the Labour Party’s Shadow Minister for Asia and also a Patron of Hong Kong Watch, described the scenes as “deeply concerning” and also called on the Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary to investigate urgently. She added: “I’ve previously raised protections for Hong Kongers in the UK with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and this will be raised in Parliament urgently.”
