China removes officials after Manchester incident

STORY: Two months after violence broke out at China's consulate in Manchester...

... Beijing has removed six of its officials from Britain, including the consul general himself.

The UK foreign minister, James Cleverly, said the removal of the officials..

came after a police request to interview them over the incident.

The October protest took place on the first day of China's party congress..

Demonstrators had gathered outside the consulate in northwest England to protest President Xi's rule.

Video showed one of the protesters, Bob Chan, being dragged inside the grounds of the consul and beaten.

Chan later gave a press conference and said he suffered bruising to his eye, head, neck and all over his back.

In a written statement released Wednesday, Cleverly said:

"I am disappointed that these individuals will not be interviewed or face justice".

Later he outlined to British broadcasters what action had been taken:

"We all saw the disturbing footage of the incident outside the Chinese Consulate in Manchester. In response to that, we initiated a process based on our adherence to the rule of law.

"In response to our request, the Chinese government have now removed from the UK those officials, including the Consul General himself."

But the Chinese embassy has hit back, saying Britain had failed to protect its staff,

adding it launched its own representations with Britain over the incident.

It said the consul general had returned to China under a: "normal rotation of Chinese consular officials".

Britain and China's relationship has soured in recent years,

over issues such as Hong Kong and the treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang.