China’s new era dawns in Manchester

Manchester police are investigating a brawl that happened outside the Chinese consulate after some Hong Kong protesters and a group of diplomats clashed during a demonstration.

The whole thing lasted about a minute and the two sides were quickly separated by the UK police. But the diplomatic row that it ignited will probably continue for a few weeks, especially as the Consul General Zheng Xiyuan in an interview on Thursday defended pulling the hair of a protester, saying it was his duty.

The protester "was abusing my country, my leader, I think it's my duty," Zheng told Sky News.

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The protester who was dragged into the consulate premises in turn told the media that he now fears for his and his family's safety. That could sound like an exaggerated claim, but to those who have witnessed Beijing's increased role in Hong Kong, it will ring true.

The first pangs of fear the city felt about Beijing's overreach into the city came in 2016 when a book publisher named Lee Bo disappeared from the city and later surfaced on the mainland. It was soon evident that Chinese security bureau had ferreted him away secretly though under the Hong Kong rules, the Chinese security officials had to gain official permission before operating in the city.

Soon after, his co-publisher Gui Minhai vanished from his holiday home in Thailand's Pattaya and weeks later he too appeared in China, apparently to apologise for his involvement in a traffic incident that happened years ago. It then became apparent that the real reason for their illegal arrest and kidnapping was the books they produced, which were salacious and focused on top Chinese leaders, including Xi Jinping. Gui has not been allowed to leave China till now, though he carries a Swedish passport.

The new security law which Beijing passed in 2020 gave the Chinese security forces the legal sanction to operate in Hong Kong under their own rules and removed most of the legal protection that residents were guaranteed till then, prompting many to flee the city and head to places like Britain, Australia and Canada.

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Many of them organise rallies and protests in those places to highlight the goings on in Hong Kong, but there have been complaints that Chinese officials are keeping tabs on such people and intimidating them even in those places.

A report issued by international human rights group Safeguard Defenders said that China had set up informal police stations with links to security officials

in China in several countries. Beijing says the intention is to help Chinese citizens who are living overseas and such units have been established in the United States, Britain, Australia and Japan. But rights activists say this is to target dissidents abroad and prevent Chinese citizens from joining protests against the Communist Party rule.

There also have been reports of China using its wealthy status to forge connections with political leaders and universities in foreign countries to tell stories about the “real China”, against what Beijing says are the biased versions spread by Western media. Basically that boils down to keeping away topics that are anathema to the communist party.

China has been on this trajectory even before Xi became the all-powerful leader. As his clout in the party grew along with a personality cult around him, groups within the party now seem to be overeager to show their loyalty. One reflection of that is the Manchester consul general’s anger at the display of a caricature of Xi, a perfectly normal thing in Britain where lampooning of political figures go back centuries.

Such aggressive Wolf Warrior diplomacy has seen diplomats often getting into tangles with the media and governments in various countries. An example of that was when the Chinese embassy in New Delhi warned the Indian media in 2020, not to describe Taiwan as a country and Tsai Ing-wen as president, provoking a backlash.

The embassy on another occasion warned the Indian media against advocating the use of “Tibet card”, saying it will be seen as interference in China’s internal affairs. "China firmly opposes any country, organisation or individual supporting the anti-China separatist activities of the ‘Tibetan independence’ forces in any form and under any pretext,” it had said then. Never mind the fact that there is no law in India against such acts.

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In 1959, the-then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had no second thoughts about giving refuge to Dalai Lama when he escaped to India and allowed him to establish a base in Dharamshala to continue his work. But when an event was held to mark the 60th anniversary of Dalai Lama’s arrival there, top Indian officials stayed away from the function, so as not to anger Beijing.

Chinese Communist Party has muted the world reaction as the country gained economic strength and flexed its muscle, using trade to fight its political battles. And most countries obliged as they had seen the wrath that Norway faced after dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 2010.

Such aggression escalated as time went by and under Xi, China became sensitive to even tweets by non-political actors, as American manager of the basketball team Houston Rockets found out in 2019, though Twitter is banned in the country.

With Xi becoming the core of the Chinese Communist Party and the party positioned as the all-controlling entity, Chinese officials are now bound to get less tolerant of bad press about Xi. Even the hoax news that Indian news channels bandied about Xi getting arrested and overthrown could have ruffled the feathers of their patriotic troll army and a cyber backlash is plausible after the current political events get over in Beijing.

In the work report presented to the Congress, Xi hailed the beginning of a new era and said “China’s international influence, appeal and power to shape the world has significantly increased.” Maybe what we saw in Manchester is the dawn of the new Chinese era that Xi envisions.

(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)