Consul General ZHENG Xiyuan Gives an Interview to Manchester Evening News
2022-10-20 23:43

On October 18th, Consul General of China in Manchester Zheng Xiyuan, gave an interview to Paul Britton from Manchester Evening News, in regard to the incident which occurred on October 16th. 

Consul General Zheng gave an account of the facts of the incident. A group of the so-called Hong Kong independence activists staged a protest in front of the General Consulate on October 16th. They displayed very close to the consulate’s main entrance a large volume of deeply offensive imagery and slogans deliberately designed to provoke, harass, alarm and distress the consular staff, and as such, their act constituted behaviour contrary to both Section 4 and Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986. 

The protesters were asked politely to remove the imagery and slogans but refused to do so. There was no prior notification of the protest and the consular staff called police.

At one point, the consulate grounds were stormed by the protesters and members of consular staff were required to physically fend off unauthorised entry and subsequent assaults. One of the protesters grabbed a member of consular staff by the neck and refused to let go. In an effort to free the staff member, other members of staff pulled their colleague into the consulate compound. Despite this, the attacker persistently refused to let go and plunged into the premise himself. Several consular staff members tried to pull him off, the attacker continued assaulting and so the staff had to disentangle his hands. Eventually the attacker was removed with the assistance of the police but not before the consular staff received injuries.   

Consul General Zheng said that he had been in Manchester for four years with his wife and enjoyed the friendship with the city and its citizens and that he does not want this friendship damaged by the incident. “We are respectful of the right to protest, as guaranteed under UK law, and a number of protests have been held in front of the consulate over the years, all of which have passed off uneventfully,” said Consul General Zheng.

The General Consulate has given the Manchester Evening News footage from its CCTV feed after the protest.


  • Chinese Visa

Chinese Visa:
0044-161-2369619
manchestercentre@visaforchina.org

Passport & Travel Document:
0044-161-2248986
0044-161-2248672 (13:00-17:00,Mon-Fri)
consulate_manchester@mfa.gow.cn