Following the Chinese Communist Party’s violent suppression of protesters, which included the beating of a BBC journalist, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is being urged to expel Chinese diplomats.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak Urged To Expel Chinese Diplomats Following The Beating Of A BBC Journalist Covering Mass Chinese Protests
Diplomats should be expelled, and even the Dalai Lama invited for a formal visit to Britain, to prove that Britain was not a ‘pushover,’ former Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg said.
The Chinese ambassador, Zheng Zeguang, was summoned to the Foreign Office over the treatment of BBC journalist Ed Lawrence while he was reporting on local protests. Police beat and kicked camera operator Lawrence while arresting him during the demonstrations.
In recent days, huge demonstrations have erupted across China in a furious public backlash to the government’s repressive policies, demanding Xi Jingping step down. The protests are the largest since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
In his comments, Jacob Rees-Mogg stated: “Should we not be looking to expel diplomats, to take tougher actions in international forums where Chinese interests are at stake, to do things that the Chinese would not want us to do, like improving our relationship with Taiwan or inviting the Dalai Lama on a formal visit.”
Much in the same way, politician Sir Iain Duncan Smith has also called out the lack of action taken by Sunak. He cited China’s treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang, and the Hong Kong crackdowns as a way to highlight the brutal nature of the Chinese regime.
His following comments confirmed as much: “For too long the free world has turned a blind eye to the abuses and the threats from China.”
The sentiment on social media was much the same. A significant proportion of people wanted the people responsible for the harm on the BBC reporter to be held to account as soon as possible.
One person wrote: “[The] Chinese diplomat involved in [the] protester attack must be expelled.” Time will tell how Sunak will respond to this.
