Police investigating an alleged assault inside the grounds of the Chinese consulate in Manchester say no arrests have been made so far.
In an update on Wednesday, Greater Manchester Police said detectives were 'diligently working through a lot of evidence and statements' to build up a timeline of events. The force also revealed the police officer who removed the man from the compound suffered a minor hand injury - and said its investigation would also consider how a peaceful protest turned violent.
A police chief, meanwhile, said there were 'many strands to this complex and sensitive inquiry' and that the investigation 'will take time'.
The Chinese consulate - based on Denison Road in Rusholme - gave the M.E.N. footage from its own CCTV cameras, saying it would also share its footage with police, and claimed two members of its staff were assaulted when a protest outside the gates turned violent. The footage, shown above, was put together by the consulate from its CCTV footage, within which the red circles depict what the Chinese consulate claim is their staff being attacked.
The consulate also shared a letter written to police, in which they claimed a 'mob' of protestors 'stormed' its grounds after 'deeply offensive imagery and slogans' they described as 'threatening and insulting' were displayed. They alleged staff were shoved, then two men who were knocked to the ground were stamped on and kicked.
Police, however, have said their investigation was launched after 'a small group of men came out of the building and a man was dragged into the Consulate grounds and assaulted'.
The police update came as Conservative former party leader, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, questioned the strength of the Government's response after the alleged assault on a Hong Kong pro-democracy protester on Sunday afternoon.
MPs were told on Tuesday the Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, had issued a summons to the Chinese ambassador to the UK's deputy in London to demand an explanation for the actions of consulate staff after what he called 'apparent scenes of violence against' Hong Kong protestors.
Raising a Commons point of order today, Sir Iain said: "Yesterday the Foreign Office minister was in a way dragged to the House to answer a question about what the Government would do over these brutal attacks that took place in Manchester. The minister said that the officials would be called to the Foreign Office to meet a minister of the crown.
"Instead of which today we discover they met an official who simply rapped them over the knuckles by saying they should stand by the freedoms that we have in this country.
"Can I ask therefore is it feasible for us to get the minister back to the despatch box to ask why were they not told that if they do not follow our rules, they get expelled and say that all those responsible for the assault in Manchester will be expelled from this country?"
Responding, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said an urgent question to be debated in the Commons could be submitted.
In a statement released this afternoon, GMP said: "Our investigation into the assault of a man after a protest outside the Chinese Consulate in Manchester on Sunday is ongoing with detectives still working meticulously to establish the full circumstances.
"Investigators from our Major Incident Team have been obtaining statements from as many of those involved as possible and continue to review a range of CCTV, police body-worn video and mobile phone footage to assist in capturing a comprehensive understanding of what happened.
"We're grateful for footage that has been submitted to us so far and ask anyone with video that has not yet uploaded it to our dedicated online portal to do so here.
"We're investigating events between 2pm and 3pm on Sunday after a man suffered several minor physical injuries in the Consulate grounds after an initially peaceful protest appeared to escalate – and our wide-ranging enquiries include looking into why this was the case.
"No other injuries have so far been reported to us, other than a minor physical injury to the hand of our officer who intervened to help remove the man in his 30s from the Consulate grounds out of fear for his safety. So far, no arrests have been made and enquiries will continue for as long as necessary with support from partners."
Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts said: "We're aware and totally understand the amount of focus on this investigation due to the weekend's events causing shock and concern in the city and much wider afield.
"Our experienced detectives are diligently working through a lot of evidence and statements to ensure they have a comprehensive understanding of the timeline of events that lead to this initially peaceful protest unexpectedly escalating in the way it appears to have done.
"There are many strands to this complex and sensitive inquiry, and we will do all we can to achieve as many answers as possible, but I must stress that this investigation will take time and we will provide as regular an update as we can in due course."
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