Chinese consulate staff clash with journalist over Hong Kong protest graffiti in UK

The British police in Manchester were called to the Chinese Consulate over the weekend after an altercation between the staff and a Radio Free Asia (RFA) journalist, who filmed them removing Hong Kong protest graffiti from the street outside.

On Saturday afternoon, four Chinese Consulate staff members encircled RFA Cantonese Service reporter Matthew Leung after he began taking photos of them erasing slogans painted in white on the sidewalk outside the Chinese consulate on Denison Road in Manchester.

The slogans included “F— PRC!” (People’s Republic of China), “Independence for Hong Kong!” and “Long Live the Republic of China!”–the official name for democratic Taiwan, as shown in photos shared on Telegram on the afternoon of December 28. Additionally, there was a derogatory term for China, a highly offensive historical slur previously used in protest slogans by Hong Kongers, Radio Free Asia reported.

A Telegram user explained they had painted the slogans “because they are communists.” The staff quickly began scrubbing the graffiti, but when RFA reporters arrived and started taking photos, they were threatened. One staff member warned the reporter, saying, “We know your name, we know your address,” and added, “I know our rights – if you take photos of us, we have image rights.”

One staff member stated, “We don’t want any photos or videos online. If you publish them, we will contact the police.” The Chinese Consulate in Manchester gained attention in 2022 when Consul General Zheng Xiyuan physically assaulted a Hong Kong protester inside the consulate.

According to the report, concerns are increasing over the Chinese Communist Party’s growing influence in various aspects of British life, with warnings from Hong Kong exiles about the rising violence from Beijing’s supporters and officials. Activists abroad often report being targeted by agents and backers of the Chinese government, including through secret Chinese police stations set up in several countries.

One staff member, speaking in accented Cantonese, said, “Stop filming; we’re calling the police now,” while another repeated the request in English, according to the Radio Free Asia report.

Another staff member attempted to access the camera’s digital touchscreen, despite the RFA journalist verbally objecting, but was eventually pulled away by colleagues. The staff also insisted that the journalist identify themselves, which the reporter did, presenting their official press accreditation from the National Union of Journalists.

One of the men said, “This is the Consulate General.” In response, the reporter said that he was standing on a public footpath. The man then insisted, “If you want to film, you need our permission,” citing “diplomatic privileges under the Vienna Convention.”

When the police arrived, called by both the RFA reporter and consulate staff, they took a bag of evidence and reminded the consular staff that journalists have the right to film in public spaces. The police questioned everyone at the scene, including asking the RFA reporter if they knew who had painted the slogans, before leaving.

Initially, the police told RFA Cantonese that they would investigate the graffiti as a “hate crime,” but later stated they would not conduct the investigation as consular staff “refused to cooperate.”

Simon Cheng, founder and chairperson of the advocacy group Hongkongers in Britain, suggested that the consulate’s actions seemed like an attempt to control media activities in the UK. “At the very least, it shows the consular staff have no understanding of their legal rights or limits,” Cheng stated, according to RFA report.

“More importantly, if they start using China’s tactics to restrict media freedom and block filming in the UK, that would be a form of transnational repression.”

Hong Kong exile groups in the UK have criticized the Chinese Communist Party’s alleged transnational repression on British soil, citing an incident in 2023 when a church in Guildford canceled a children’s workshop on justice, civil liberties, and human rights.

Cheng noted that the consular staff seemed to have moderated their approach compared to a 2022 incident, where six Chinese diplomats, including the Consul General, were withdrawn after an assault on Hong Kong protester Bob Chan.

“There are some differences in how they handled this…they seemed to be de-escalating and threatening to call the police, but that doesn’t mean they had any legal justification for doing so,” Cheng remarked, according to RFA report.

He also mentioned that the graffiti reflected growing frustration among Hongkongers in the UK over China’s ongoing repression of public dissent and political opposition in Hong Kong, but urged protesters to “express their demands in a legal manner.”