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A senior Chinese diplomat involved in recent violence against pro-democracy protesters in Manchester has suggested that Chinese students in Britain should “resist distorting and defaming” China’s Covid policies.
The comments, made by 23-year-old Lyndon Lee, a second-year law student at York University, at a symposium to discuss the work of international students by China’s consul general in Manchester, Zheng Ziyuan, appeared threatening.
Zheng was filmed in October pulling the hair of a protester, Bob Chan, who was dragged to the consulate grounds where he was kicked and punched so badly that he required hospital treatment.
An official account of the student symposium last week, posted on the WeChat social media account used to share information with the university’s Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA), portrayed Zheng as championing the “significant advantages” of China’s socialist system.
“Students are invited to fully understand and believe in the great importance behind every decision taken by the Party and the government, and consciously resist distorting and defaming China’s epidemic prevention and control policies, so as to prevent this regular epidemic prevention and control war.” Can be won jointly,” the account reports.
Lee said he took Zheng’s comments as an attempt to silence the debate in the UK. He said: “It is put as a request but that is not how things work in China. It threatens. They should not try to influence the way international students act by telling them what to do and say. Where is the freedom of expression?
Protests have been taking place in recent days by Chinese nationals studying in the UK, who have expressed a desire to show solidarity with those taking to the streets in defiance of Beijing’s Covid regulations.
Demonstrators called for an end to the restrictions, and in recent days their calls appear to be hitting home. There is also anger at the authoritarian government and its leader, Xi Jinping.
Chen Wei, a consulate counselor who was also at the scene when Chan was beaten, also addressed the symposium to applaud the work of the Chinese student society.
The account reported that Wei “preached that for a long time, the CSSA in the consulate has helped the Consulate General to actively carry out preventive consular publicity and consular security, and has done a lot to ensure the safety of Chinese students.”
Lee said the comments provide further evidence that societies are being used as tools of the Communist Party. In 2019, the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee highlighted the CSSA’s role as a tool of political intervention.
Greater Manchester Police, investigating the situation at the Chinese consulate, said two weeks ago that they had identified a number of offences, including assaults and public order offences.
Zheng was seen grabbing a protester by the hair and tearing up posters in front of the consulate. He said at the time: “I didn’t kill anyone. I did not allow my people to kill anyone. The fact is, the so-called opponents beat up my people.
When asked about the footage of him pulling Chan by the hair, Zheng added: “That man abused my country, my leader – I feel it’s my duty. I think it’s an emergency situation – the person threatened my colleague’s life and we tried to control the situation. I wanted to separate it from my colleagues – it’s a very important point.”
The Chinese embassy did not respond to a request for comment.
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