The Chinese Embassy in London has warned that protecting Hong Kong protesters will ‘bring disaster to Britain’ after a man was beaten inside the Chinese consulate in Manchester.
In a video released by the embassy on Thursday, a spokesperson made the most direct trade threat to the UK since footage showed Hong Kong protester Bob Chan shot inside the grounds of the Manchester Consulate and beaten by its staff on 16 October.
The Consul General was spotted pulling Mr Chan’s hair and told Sky News last week it was his ‘duty’ as he said, Mr. Chan was “abusing my country, my leader”.
Thursday’s clip was titled: “Online press conference on the violent harassment of the Chinese Consulate General in Manchester”.
No media was present and no questions were asked.
The video sparked outrage from MPs and human rights campaigners in the UK.
In it, the spokesperson warned: “Providing shelter to independent elements in Hong Kong will, in the end, only bring disaster to Britain.”
He said he wanted to “remind” people of Aesop’s fable of the farmer and the snake “where the farmer showed sympathy for the snake but was finally bitten by the snake”.
He spoke at length about the dependency of the UK China as its third trading partner and its “first source of imports”.
“UK exports to China have also increased strongly, so we see this relationship as a win-win and mutually beneficial,” he said.
“China attaches great importance to its relations with the UK, and we are willing to further develop cooperation with the UK on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit.
“It’s good for both parties and good for the world.”
He added that “a few” people with “selfish motives” are trying to provoke a confrontation between China and the UK that “is dangerous and bad for both sides”, he said.
Alicia Kearns, the new chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said threats were unfortunately to be expected from China.
“The CCP’s (Chinese Communist Party) lack of contrition in the face of what has been a shocking assault is concerning, if not downright surprising,” she said.
“This is unfortunately consistent with Beijing’s aggressive foreign policy under Xi and why we have seen diplomatic relations with China become increasingly strained around the world.”
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Protester over ‘assault’ at Chinese consulate in Manchester
Human rights campaigner Luke de Pulford, executive director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said the UK government must crack down on China’s trade threats and human rights abuses.
He told Sky News: “What most resembles a snake?
“Hong Kongers who have been driven from their homes for standing up for democracy, or the Chinese Communist Party which inflicts genocide, tears up treaties, whose diplomats beat up protesters and who operate illegal police stations to persecute dissidents?
“I know what I would prefer, and now the government must show its displeasure with China’s brazen hubris.”
The government, under Liz Truss, said it would await the completion of a police investigation into the Manchester consulate incident before deciding what to do with the staff involved.
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“My duty” to pull a protester’s hair
Rishi Sunak, who took over as prime minister on Tuesday, has yet to comment on the incident.
Other Conservative and Labor MPs have called for the consul-general implicated in the attack to be sent straight back to China.
Tory MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who is sanctioned by China, said any Chinese consulate staff involved in the attack should be expelled, made to apologize and made persona non grata.
He said it should be a political decision and the government should not wait for the end of the police investigation because there is video evidence, some of which was released by the Chinese Embassy.
