The British authorities have opened an investigation. Consul General Zheng Xiyuan would also have participated in the beating of the native Hong Kong citizen. More and more European countries criticize the diplomacy of the Chinese “wolf warrior”. However, European export industries call for a pragmatic approach.
Beijing () – The scene of a Hong Kong protester being attacked by staff from the Chinese consulate in Manchester is a new blow to the image of Beijing’s diplomacy in Europe.
According to the Metropolitan Police of the English city, about forty protesters were outside the consular office on October 16 when a group of people came out of the diplomatic mission, dragged a man named Bob Chan into the consulate courtyard and gave him a beating. Some policemen were able to rescue it by tearing it from the hands of the attackers.
London immediately opened an investigation into the incident, which was more serious than initially thought because footage later showed that Consul General Zheng Xiyuan had also been involved in the beating. The Chinese diplomat defended himself by saying that he was only trying to protect his collaborators, accusing the protesters of having insulted China and its president.
The protesters, many of them from Hong Kong, carried a banner criticizing Xi Jinping, coinciding with the opening of the 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party which, by all accounts, will give the supreme leader a third term in office. can.
The British government made it clear that the sit-in protest was peaceful and entirely legitimate. Most British MPs are demanding a tough response from the Truss administration. It is not the first time that excesses by Chinese officials have been verified in Europe. The most striking case occurred in France in March 2021.
However, Xi’s China does not seem to intend to abandon the aggressive line of the “wolf warrior”, the new generation of its diplomats. On the sidelines of the 20th Party Congress, Vice Foreign Minister Ma Xhaoxu said that “Chinese diplomacy will continue to show a fighting spirit and improve its fighting ability, always prepared in the front line to defend the national interest and dignity.”
Internal repressive policies and external militancy are pushing more and more European countries to distance themselves from Beijing. On October 18, the newly elected Swedish Prime Minister expressed concern about Chinese military pressure on Taiwan and stated that his government will never accept threats to democratic countries.
In August, Estonia and Latvia left the 16+1, the informal forum that brought together China and 16 central, eastern and southern European states. Lithuania left the Beijing-led cooperation group last year and the Czech Republic is considering a similar move.
On October 10, the Foreign Trade Commission of the EU Parliament gave the green light to the adoption of an instrument to counter acts of economic coercion by a third country. However, the measure must now be approved by the European Council. In practice, it is a response to the Chinese boycott of Lithuanian exports when Vilnius strengthened diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
In the Old Continent, two souls clash over relations with China. Under pressure from war adventures by Russia, which is supposedly a close partner of Beijing, the Scandinavian, Central and Eastern European countries want a tougher approach. But the European locomotives, Germany and France, favor a more pragmatic line: their export-oriented industries believe that Europe cannot afford to disagree with China while cutting trade, financial and energy ties. with Moscow.
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