Hundreds of people gathered in St Peter's Square for the 'Say No to China' protest. The protest was arranged after an incident last Sunday (October 16) at the Chinese consulate, in Denison Road, Rusholme.
On that occasion, a protest had been called to mark the start of a twice-a-decade congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) - at which the party's general secretary Xi Jinping has since won a historic third term as the President of the People's Republic of China.
During that protest, a Hong Konger named Bob Chan says he was 'dragged' into the consultate grounds and assaulted. Mr Chan claims he was 'hurt' in what he describes as an 'unprovoked attack'. An investigation into the incident by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) still continues.
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This afternoon, a week to the day since the alleged assault, signs and placards were lay on the ground and held aloft, displaying messages ranging from 'Expel China', 'Free Hong Kong', and 'End CCP' to 'British Blood On China Hands' and 'Hang Xi Jinping'. A number of people also held a cartoon image of Xi Jinping, in which he was portrayed only wearing pants and a crown, with blood-stained images of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Ukraine in his hand.
Shortly after 4pm this afternoon (Sunday October 23) 'God Save the King' was played from speakers outside Central Library, followed by 'Glory to Hong Kong'. Throughout the next two hours, there were various speakers voicing their support, with the vast majority doing so in Cantonese.
Bohdan Ratycz, the director of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, delivered a stirring speech which was met with thunderous applause by those in attendance. Draped in a huge Ukraine flag, he said: "It is very important for Ukrainians to support what you are doing because you are on the right side.
"Hong Kong is not China in the same way that Ukraine is not Russia. It never has been. We will fight until the last man."
It was around 6pm that 'Glory to Hong Kong' played once again, signalling the end of the organised protest. For the most part, crowds started to disperse and leave the square, however close to the entrance of the library, a heated conversation appeared to break out within a small pocket of Hong Kong protestors.
Throughout the afternoon, there had been a relatively large police presence as a precaution, however the event up until this point had been incredibly calm and peaceful and they had not needed to be called upon.
Several police officers, including a Cantonese translator, walked over to the group and it became apparent that the protestors had been planning to walk to the consulate and engage in another demonstration. After conversations with GMP, who said that they would facilitate a peaceful protest if needed, the protestors decided against this and dispersed.
Despite emotions running high for those in attendance, Hong Kongers displayed their gratitude to GMP (for the force's response to last week's incident) with several demonstrators holding up signs reading "Thank you so much GMP".
GMP are still gathering evidence in relation to the alleged assault last weekend and videos can be uploaded to the dedicated major incident portal.
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