A week after a Hong Kong citizen was assaulted at the Chinese consulate in Manchester, England, hundreds of people in the UK gathered in separate local protests to denounce China and demand freedom for Hong Kong.
The Manchester protest, called “Say No to China,” took place in St. Peter’s Square around 4 p.m. on Sunday, the Manchester Evening News informed. The event began with the playing of “God Save the King” outside the Central Library, followed by “Glory to Hong Kong”.
Over the next two hours, several speakers came forward to express their support for Hong Kong’s independence from China. Attendees reportedly carried signs with phrases such as “Kick out China”, “Free Hong Kong” and even “Hang Xi Jinping”.
Similar banners were erected during the protest that took place outside the Chinese consulate on Denison Road in Rusholme in Manchester last week. The manifestation resulted in a violent fight who saw several masked men drag a protester by the hair and beat him on the consulate grounds.
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“Let me say it again to make it clear: I was dragged to the consulate. I did not try to enter the consulate,” said Bob Chan, the Hong Kong pro-independence protester who was assaulted. said at a press conference in the British Parliament on Wednesday. “I clung to doors where I was kicked and punched, I couldn’t hold on for long. I was eventually thrown to the floor of the consulate.”
Last week, Consul General Zheng Xiyuan, one of the most senior Chinese diplomats in Manchester, admitted pulling Chan by the hair, but he claimed his actions were a call of “duty”. It also alleged that Chan “refused to let go” of a staff member and thus “dived into the property himself.”
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Similar protests took place on Sunday in other parts of the UK, including London, Nottingham Y Reading. Videos aware on Twitter show Londoners fighting a storm Get to the Chinese embassy in your city and deliver your message.
Meanwhile, some protesters expressed gratitude for the Greater Manchester Police, who have drawn praise since removing Chan from the Chinese consulate grounds. The force continues to investigate the incident.
“Let me make it clear that if the police determine that there is cause to charge any official, we would expect the Chinese consulate to waive the immunity of those officials,” Foreign Minister Jesse Norman said. said Thursday. “If they don’t, then the consequences will follow.”
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Featured Image via Tom Molloy (@TOMolloyMEN)
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