"Unacceptable": UK Foreign Secretary On Chinese Consulate Assault

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said on Wednesday the treatment of a protester was seen being pulled into the grounds of a Chinese consulate and beaten was "unacceptable", and the government was considering further action.

The altercation occurred on Sunday during a demonstration against Chinese President Xi Jinping in Manchester, northern England. It led to Britain summoning China's Charge d'Affaires in London on Tuesday to explain what had happened.

"That was unacceptable," Cleverly said, adding the protests had been peaceful and legal. "They were on British soil and it is absolutely unacceptable for this kind of behaviour."

The protest, involving 30-40 people including Hong Kong citizens now resident in Britain, took place at the start of a twice-a-decade congress of China's ruling Communist Party in Beijing at which Xi is widely expected to win a third leadership term.

Speaking about the protest in Beijing on Tuesday, China's foreign ministry spokesman said "disturbing elements" had illegally entered the grounds of the consulate and had endangered its security.

"Diplomatic institutions of any country have the right to take the necessary measures to safeguard the peace and dignity of their premises," the spokesman said.

Greater Manchester Police said they were investigating what had occurred at the planned protest on Sunday, with footage showing a man in a black cap and ponytail being hauled through a gate into the consular grounds, where he was kicked and punched by five men as he lay on the ground.

"A small group of men came out of the building and a man was dragged into the Consulate grounds and assaulted," a police statement said. It said a man aged in his 30s had suffered injuries and needed hospital treatment.

"My understanding is the Greater Manchester Police will be conducting an investigation into this and when I see the details of that investigation, I'll then decide what more we might need to do on that," Cleverly said.

Relations between Britain and China have been tense in recent years, most notably since Beijing brought in a national security law in Hong Kong, a former British colony which returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with the promise that its freedoms would be protected.

Britain has been highly critical of the law which it says has been used to suppress dissent, while Beijing has accused London of interfering and creating trouble.

The issue has been exacerbated by a programme which allows almost three million people in Hong Kong to apply for a British visa, and a decision by China to impose sanctions on some British lawmakers in the ruling Conservative Party for spreading "lies" about alleged human rights abuses in the farwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang.

Meanwhile, China's foreign ministry, responding to a question on Wednesday about clashes between Hong Kong protesters and the staff of its consulate, said that it had lodged representations with Britain over the incident.

During a regular media briefing, ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the representations were made over what he described as malicious harassment by lawless elements.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)