The UK’s secret row with China over embassy guards carrying electroshock weapons

China’s ambassador to the UK was confronted by the Foreign Office over claims that embassy guards brandished illegal electroshock weapons at protesters, The i Paper can reveal. Beijing’s embassy guards were accused of pointing the stun batons at protesters to intimidate them during a protest outside the embassy in central London. The Foreign Office rebuked China’s ambassador to the UK Zheng Zeguang during a meeting on 8 July, five days after the demonstration outside the embassy in Portland Place.

He was told that all foreign diplomatic missions in the UK are expected to abide by British laws, and that if police find sufficient evidence to interview the guards, any request for diplomatic immunity should be waved. The exchange was revealed in a letter seen by The i Paper that was sent by the security minister Dan Jarvis to his Tory counterpart Alicia Kearns. The revelation gives unique, behind-the-scenes insight into how the Government is handling China’s conduct on UK soil, and its alleged attempts to silence dissidents.

In August, The i Paper obtained footage that appears to show two embassy workers waving what look like stun batons towards protesters who were approaching the gates. Electroshock weapons are prohibited under Section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968, with possession carrying a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. A guard protecting the site of China’s new mega embassy was also seen carrying one to scare off youths who had scaled a security gate in August.

“No diplomatic mission or consulate is permitted to have such items, and the Home Office has not authorised their possession to any diplomatic mission,” Jarvis wrote in the letter to shadow national security minister Kearns. The Government will work with the Foreign Office to remind all diplomatic missions of their responsibilities under the Firearms Act and of what is allowed on diplomatic premises for security purposes, he added. Any evidence that the weapons had been held or used unlawfully “would be treated with the utmost seriousness”, he said.

Jarvis declined to speculate on how they might have entered the UK while the police investigation remains ongoing. The Chinese Embassy has previously denied the claims, describing them as “nothing but fabrication and defamation” and saying that Tibetan independence activists tried to force their way on to its premises. Scotland Yard confirmed to this newspaper in August that an investigation into the alleged incident was ongoing, with officers reviewing video footage from the protest.

Kearns argued that the Government should have responded more forcefully and given China a public dressing down. She told The i Paper : “Chinese embassy staff brandishing weapons that are banned on British streets is not a diplomatic grey area, it is a brazen breach of UK law. “Public flaunting of our laws demands a public response. If the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sees no consequence for threatening peaceful protesters on our soil, it will conclude it can do so again.

“Deterrence is built on visible resolve.” The Metropolitan Police were called to reports of a protest at the embassy at about 6pm on 3 July. Two protesters alleged that staff had pointed a taser at them. Nobody was injured, and officers left after the crowd dispersed. Witnesses said the devices appeared to be stun batons rather than a taser. The protesters had gathered for a candlelit vigil for Lobga Rangzen, a Tibetan independence activist who died after setting himself on fire outside the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Rangzen was a prominent Tibetan independence activist who accused China of repression of Tibet. Human rights groups have questioned how prohibited weapons could have reached the embassy by any lawful route, whether in exempt diplomatic baggage or through a purchase in Britain. The allegations have added to the controversy surrounding China’s new planned mega-embassy at Royal Mint Court, near the Tower of London, which was approved in January.

The decision is also facing a further legal challenge, with local residents vowing to appeal a High Court ruling that dismissed their challenge to the development. The Chinese Embassy has been approached for comment.