Since the brutal attack on Manchester’s pro-democracy demonstrators, six people, including one of China’s senior ambassadors, have returned to Communist China.
Consulate General Zheng Xiyuan, who was seen beating a Hong Kong pro-democracy activist named Bob Chan in October, has been recalled by Beijing. This may have been done to avoid the expulsion of Chinese diplomats. According to the BBC, CCP has placed five additional consulate employees.
Consulate General at first denied using violence, despite being shown on camera grabbing Mr. Chan by the hair and tugging. As Zheng said, “The person degraded my nation, my leader – I think it’s my responsibility.” Urgency is necessary here; my coworker’s life was in jeopardy, and we both shook with fear. So, wherever possible, I kept him from the rest of my staff.
At first, the British government demanded that China remove the diplomatic immunity of the six officials at the Manchester Consulate, making them subject to criminal prosecution, and threatened to declare China persona non grata and deport them if China did not cooperate with the police investigation.
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt made the statement, “we will continue on the international stage and domestically to stay by the rule of law, and we expect others to do the same,” to portray China’s decision to withdraw its ambassadors as an indication of the brutal reaction from Britain.
This lack of opportunities to interrogate and convict these individuals saddens me. After “engaging in the horrific events in Manchester,” he said, “the consular staff are no longer, or will shortly cease to be, accredited to the UK.”
Many, including ex-Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, believed the government should have expelled them before allowing them to depart of their own free will.
They will leave the UK with their heads held high even if those guilty of the attack on a nonviolent democracy activist are brought to prison. Since “justice” wouldn’t be done if they were sent back to China, Sir Iain argued that it was futile to do so. We should have requested that they left the premises a few weeks ago.
After two months, Bob Chan said, “I was still harassed by the Chinese Consulate in Manchester.” I just discovered that the Consulate sent some of its employees back to China. We’ve spent the last two months attempting to find a diplomatic solution to this complicated issue, and we may have finally found one.
We opted to uproot our lives and start over somewhere else in the hopes of improving our quality of life. When these Chinese authorities leave, I’ll be able to put the events of 16 October 2022 behind me where they belong: in the wrong and unlawful hands of others.
A high-ranking Chinese official’s humiliating departure from the United Kingdom is not unprecedented. According to a report from Breitbart London in 2020, Chinese Ambassador Liu Xiaoming “liked” a violent “footjob” porn tape. After only two months on the job, Liu has announced his retirement; nevertheless, Beijing claims the X-rated event had nothing to do with his decision.