Chinese diplomats who reportedly 'attacked' protestors outside the consulate in south Manchester have 'fled the UK' since the incident, the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman has said.
Six diplomats are understood to be leaving the UK two months after violence erupted outside the Chinese Consulate in Rusholme, with Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announcing that the Chinese consul general, Zheng Xiyuan, and five of his staff who police wanted to question, are leaving the country.
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said the diplomats should have been expelled and that their return to China 'uncharged' with 'their heads held high' is not 'justice'. However China has since insisted that the departure of the consul general was part of a 'normal rotation' of diplomats.
READ MORE Chinese diplomats leave UK after Manchester consulate office attack
It comes after Mr Xiyuan was accused of attacking protester Bob Chan, from Hong Kong, following a pro-democracy demonstration outside the Consulate. Mr Chan told a press conference he was 'dragged into the grounds of the consulate' before being 'kicked and punched'.
At a press conference on Wednesday (December 14), Mr Chan said the removal of the diplomats involved gave him 'a sense of closure'.
He said: “It has been two months since I was attacked in Manchester by staff members of the Chinese consulate.
“Today, I hear that some members from that consulate have been sent back to China. While it may have taken two months for this to happen, I believe this is one way of solving this complicated diplomatic problem.
“I relocated to this country with my family to live freely. What happened on October 16 2022 was unacceptable and illegal, and the withdrawal of these Chinese diplomats gives me a sense of closure.”
Commons Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Alicia Kearns added: “The people of Britain rightly expect those who commit crimes on our shores to face the consequences. That is what it means to live in a country with the rule of law.
“China’s diplomats who attacked protestors have fled the UK like cowards, making clear their guilt and denying justice to those protesters grievously assaulted. The Foreign Office must now declare those who have fled persona non grata, and make clear they are never again welcome in the UK.”
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, co-chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said the diplomats should have been expelled.
He said: “The flagrant assault on a peaceful democracy campaigner in Manchester needs more than allowing those responsible to leave the UK uncharged and with their heads held high. Letting China take them back isn’t justice. We should have kicked them out weeks ago.”
However, China has insisted the departure of the consul general was part of a 'normal rotation' of diplomats. A Chinese Embassy spokesperson said: “The Chinese consul general in Manchester has completed his term of office and has returned to China upon instruction not long ago. This is a normal rotation of Chinese consular officials.”
The spokesperson added that the incident in October was a "violent disruptive provocation deliberately staged by anti-China elements who assaulted our consulate members and illegally intruded into the consulate premises, gravely undermining the safety and dignity of consulate officials”. The official said the UK Government had “failed to fulfil its obligations under international law to protect the safety and dignity of the Chinese consulate premises and personnel.”
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