At British Standard Time (BST) 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 16, about 60 Hongkongers held a peaceful rally outside the Chinese Consulate at 71 Denison Road, Manchester, England. A number of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) consulate staff wearing protective equipment suddenly rushed out of the Consulate to snatch the large-scale cartoon used at the rally, they surrounded and beat the protesters who held the cartoon painting.
Oct. 16 was the first day of the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Congress, and the theme of the rally was to object to the reelection of Xi Jinping. The spokesperson of the conference was harassed by the Chinese consulate staff members less than two minutes into his speech.
When the CCP consulate staff members snatched the large-scale cartoon, the protesters tried to stop them, but they were attacked by the consulate personnel. Bob, who was holding the cartoon painting, was forcibly pulled into the consulate and was beaten and kicked by seven or eight Chinese consulate personnel. The large-scale cartoon satirizes Xi Jinping “in the emperor’s new clothes.”
Upon seeing this, the British police rushed into the consulate and rescued Bob, who was besieged. Afterwards, a number of British police officers lined up in front of the consulate to separate the protesters and consulate staff members. The injured Bob, accompanied by some of the protesters was taken to a nearby hospital. He was admitted to the hospital to check his injuries.
“This attack in broad daylight is beyond reason. The claws of CCP are upon newcomers to the UK residing on BNO visas. This happened in a land that respects liberty and emphasizes freedom of speech,” Bob said.
“If the British police had not intervened today, or if the assembly had taken place in Hong Kong or in mainland China, I’m afraid our group of peaceful demonstrators would have been made to ‘disappear’ or would have been arrested and detained on any false charged made by the CCP,” he said.
