Police are searching for videos and looking through CCTV footage after an “absolutely unacceptable” attack on a protester at the Chinese consulate in Manchester.
Police had to rescue the man after he was dragged into the grounds of the building on Sunday and appeared to be assaulted by a group of people – with a Tory MP claiming a senior Chinese diplomat was involved.
Investigators have been obtaining statements from “as many of those involved as possible” and are appealing for anyone with footage of the attack to get in touch.
“A man suffered several minor physical injuries in the consulate grounds after an initially peaceful protest appeared to escalate – and our wide-ranging inquiries include looking into why this was the case,” Greater Manchester Police said.
An officer also injured his hand during the incident, after intervening to help remove the protester from the area.
No arrests have been made yet, but police have vowed to continue their inquires “for as long as necessary”.
Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts said there are “many strands” to the “complex” inquiry, and has warned that the investigation “will take time”.
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Foreign Secretary James Cleverly told Sky News that China’s charge d’affaires, Yang Xiaoguang, had been spoken to over the incident.
“We said this is absolutely unacceptable, that the protests were peaceful and legal. They were on British soil, and it is absolutely unacceptable for this kind of behaviour,” he said.
“My understanding is the Greater Manchester Police will be conducting an investigation into this and when I see the details of that investigation, I’ll then decide what more we might need to do on that.”
Diplomatic staff at foreign embassies usually have immunity from arrest and prosecution.
‘They started to kick and punch me’
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The protester, who was demonstrating over the erosion of democracy in Hong Kong, told Sky News he thought he would have died if a police officer hadn’t helped him.
“It all happened too fast,” said Bob Chan. “I tried holding on to the gates but couldn’t hold for too long – they then threw me to the ground and started to kick and punch me.”
He was left with bruising, cuts to his face and a bald patch where his hair was pulled out.
“They might do some bad things to my family in Hong Kong,” added the protester.
“I’m worried about that, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I don’t regret going to the protest because if I don’t speak out, the world wouldn’t see this ridiculous thing happen to me.”
In a news conference on Wednesday, he added that he was carrying out a “peaceful protest” outside the consulate with other demonstrators, when a “masked man” attempted to take down their display.
The man “started acting aggressively” towards him, and soon other “masked men” appeared, before trying to drag him into the grounds of the consulate.
“Other protesters were trying to get me out of the situation, but to no avail. The attack only stopped when a man, who turned out to be a Greater Manchester Police officer, pulled me outside the gates,” Mr Chan said.
“I’m shocked and hurt by this unprovoked attack. I never thought something like this would happen in the UK.”
What is the situation in Hong Kong?
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China‘s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that it had also lodged representations with the UK over what it described as malicious harassment by lawless elements.
Many people fear Hong Kong‘s freedoms are being whittled away as the Chinese government asserts greater control over the territory.
A national security law, which came in two years ago, gave sweeping new powers to jail people for dissent and protest.
Hong Kong was meant to retain greater freedoms than the Chinese mainland when Britain handed it back in 1997 under the “one country, two systems” principle.
