Protester describes ‘barbaric’ attack at Chinese consulate in UK
Bob Chan says diplomats who allegedly assaulted him were ‘like gangsters’

A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
A Hong Kong pro-democracy protester has told how he was beaten in a “barbaric” attack by Chinese diplomats after being dragged into their consulate grounds in Manchester.
Bob Chan told a news conference in London yesterday that he suffered injuries requiring hospital treatment after being pulled away from a street demonstration and assaulted. “I am shocked because I never thought something like this could have happened in the UK,” he said.
Chan spoke out “after China, insisting its diplomats in Manchester were blameless, lodged a formal complaint with the UK government”, reported Hong Kong Free Press.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Greater Manchester Police said that after about 40 people gathered outside the consulate in a “peaceful protest” on Sunday, “a small group of men came out of the building and a man was dragged into the consulate grounds and assaulted”.
Chan, who fled Hong Kong to come to the UK last March, told Sky News that the accused diplomats “are like gangsters, you know, doing things like gangsters”.
Tory MP Alicia Kearns has accused one of China's most senior UK diplomats, of being involved in the violence. Kearns told fellow MPs in the Commons that Chinese consul-general Zheng Xiyuan was seen “ripping down posters” during the protest.
The Guardian reported that “footage posted online shows a person, believed to be Zheng, who is a veteran Chinese Communist party (CCP) official, kicking down a poster and pulling the hair of a protester”, who was then dragged away.
The consulat-general has denied the attack claims.
China’s Charge d’Affaires to London, Yang Xiaoguang, was “grilled” by senior UK officials at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on Tuesday after the department expressed “deep concern” to the Chinese embassy over the attack, Politico reported.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson had earlier told a press conference in Beijing that “disturbing elements illegally entered the Chinese Consulate General in Manchester and endangered the security of Chinese diplomatic premises”.
“Diplomatic institutions of any country have the right to take the necessary measures to safeguard the peace and dignity of their premises,” the spokeperson said.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.
-
Is Donald Trump finished in New York?
Today's Big Question How the former president's fraud ruling could ruin him in the city that made him famous
By Rafi Schwartz Published
-
Windmill whales
Cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
Why the FTC antitrust lawsuit against Amazon is so consequential
Talking Point While it's not the first case the federal agency brought against the company, it might be the biggest challenge yet
By Theara Coleman Published
-
Chinese secret police stations around the globe
feature Report claims Chinese citizens in exile are monitored and coerced by their own authorities
By The Week Staff Published
-
Manchester bombing report exposes ‘incompetence’
Speed Read Newly published findings of public inquiry into 2017 attack describe a litany of failures
By The Week Staff Published
-
How police ‘missed opportunities’ to prevent Manchester Arena bombing
Why Everyone’s Talking About Inquiry into terror attack that claimed 22 lives reveals litany of security failings
By Sorcha Bradley Last updated
-
Manchester shooting: attempted murder probe launched
Speed Read Two children were among the ten people injured when shots were fired at a street party in Moss Side
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Salman Abedi: Manchester bomber rescued by Royal Navy prior to attack
Speed Read Killer of 22 concertgoers was on holiday in Libya when violence erupted in 2014
By The Week Staff Published
-
What we know about the Manchester Hilton stabbing
Speed Read Six people taken into custody on suspicion of attempted murder after 20-year-old woman’s throat ‘slashed’
By The Week Staff Published
-
Manchester attack anniversary: the survivors one year on
In Depth Children who witnessed bombing still suffering flashbacks and anxiety
By The Week Staff Published
-
Manchester Arena bombing: report criticises fire service
Speed Read Coroner’s inquest to decide if fire services delayed response could have saved lives
By The Week Staff Last updated