Billet
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The attack on peaceful Hong Kong protesters by Chinese consulate staff in Manchester coincides perfectly with Chinese strategies of influence abroad.
Harass, monitor, intimidate, criminalize dissidents. Sow doubts about the facts, despise the foundations of democracy, impose its law beyond its borders. There is no doubt that, seen from Beijing, the beating of a Hong Kong activist by the Chinese consulate in Manchester on Sunday is a winning move.
For the opening of the 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, about fifty Hong Kong pro-democrats, refugees in Great Britain to escape repression, legally and peacefully demonstrate in front of the Chinese consulate against the Chinese dictatorship. A group of masked men then emerges from the garden, some in riot gear. They grab banners and posters. A fight ensues. Activists rush to the gates to prevent the theft of their equipment. The masked men drag one of them inside the graduation enclosure
