A senior Chinese diplomat involved in the recent violence against pro-democracy protesters in Manchester has suggested Chinese students in Britain should “resist distorting and discrediting” China’s Covid policies.
The comments by China’s consul general in Manchester, Zheng Xiyuan, at a symposium to discuss the work of international students were said by Lyndon Lee, 23, a second-year law student at the University of York, to appear threatening.
Zheng was filmed in October pulling the hair of a protester, Bob Chan, who had been dragged into the grounds of the consulate where he was kicked and punched to such a degree that he required hospital treatment.
An official account of the student symposium last week, posted on a WeChat social media account used to share information with the university’s Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA), reported Zheng as championing the “remarkable advantages” of China’s socialist system.
