China disputes UK account of Manchester consulate ‘provocation’

China has criticised the British foreign secretary for giving what it said was an inaccurate account of a brawl outside the Chinese consulate in Manchester in October.

China’s embassy in London said on its website that the confrontation was a “violent disruptive provocation” planned deliberately by anti-China forces, without providing evidence.

In a written statement to the UK Parliament, James Cleverly on Wednesday said social media images of the confrontation showed “what appeared to be completely unacceptable behaviour by a number of individuals” near the consular entrance, adding that the right of free expression was essential to democracy.

On the first day of the 20th party congress in Beijing, dozens of protesters clashed with consulate staff, who tried to remove protest posters that targeted the Communist Party and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The Greater Manchester Police said a man was dragged into the consulate and assaulted. Videos also showed another man, seen later entering the consulate, being pinned down outside the consulate gate and kicked by people hurling insults in Cantonese.

Cleverly also said on Twitter that the police had asked six Chinese officials to have their diplomatic immunity waived so they could be questioned in an investigation into the confrontation. China had removed those officials, including Consul General Zheng Xiyuan, at the request of the British government before the deadline for the waiver that expired on Wednesday, he said.

The Chinese embassy in London said Zheng had completed his term of office and returned to China as part of a normal rotation, without mentioning the five other officials that Cleverly said were removed.

The embassy also accused the British government of siding with protesters calling for Hong Kong independence and blaming consular staff when they were victims.

“This is totally unacceptable to the Chinese side. We have launched solemn representations with the UK on this,” it said, adding that the UK should “reflect on itself” and stop sheltering “anti-China elements”.

The British foreign office said in an email that it had no further comment beyond Cleverly’s statement to Parliament and his tweets, and had no response to the statement from the Chinese embassy.

In his statement to Parliament, Cleverly said the UK expected a standard of behaviour from diplomats and consular staff “regardless of their privileges and immunities”.

“The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations allows states to withdraw members of a consular post at any point, as has happened here,” he said. “However, I am disappointed that these individuals will not be interviewed or face justice.”

According to the consulate, Zheng last made a public appearance in the UK on December 4, when the consulate met Chinese students there to explain China’s zero-Covid policy and Xi’s ideology as protests against stringent lockdown policies swept across China. Students from mainland China had also protested at Beijing’s diplomatic outposts worldwide, including the embassy in London.

Zheng told Sky News in an interview in October that it was his duty to pull a protester’s hair because he had “abused” his country and leader. Zheng was filmed at the confrontation tearing down a banner that attacked the Communist Party with expletives.