HPD arrests Chinese diplomat (Houston, Parker: attorney, house, college)

[Zhang Fei]

Maybe diplomatic immunity in Houston only applies to parking tickets:

China said Friday that a Chinese diplomat in the U.S. was beaten and injured by Houston police and urged an investigation to ensure diplomatic practices are not violated.

...

According to a CBS News report, Houston police last Saturday tried to stop a car which was missing a license plate. When the car didn't stop, they pursued it into a garage without realizing the garage belonged to the Chinese Consulate. Police handcuffed and arrested the driver, injuring him, the CBS report said.

[HookTheBrotherUp]

I wonder why China is complaining, it's not like they don't know a thing or two about arresting, beating, and injuring people. It is unfortunate things worked out the way they did, but what were the police to do? I think worrying if a suspect has diplomatic immunity is not in the cards. Sorry China, get some spies who respect the authorities next time.

[DRob4JC]

Officers investigated over Chinese diplomat's injury

In an interview Friday, Yu said he was traveling with his wife in a consulate vehicle when he saw a patrol car with flashing lights behind him. Yu said he stopped and waited several minutes, but drove off when the officer stayed in his car and took no apparent action.

While the police should not have hit him - you don't drive off when you are stopped by the police. You are asking for trouble.




As the officer exited his patrol car, the source said, Yu greeted him with loud curses.

A consulate spokesman said Yu's rear license plate had been stolen, but the diplomat thought having a front plate was enough. Texas law requires front and rear plates.

Aaron Suder, staff attorney with the Houston Police Officers Union, dismissed Yu's claim of a police assault as “categorically false.”

“When and if there's a video that's made public we are absolutely confident that the actions of the police officers involved will be justified,” he said.

The issue is not resolved yet.

Interesting that the driver drove to a safe zone - as law officers are not allowed to enter foreign diplomatic offices - which I guess technically the cops did not do - they were only in the garage.

[Zhang Fei]

Originally Posted by DRob4JC

Officers investigated over Chinese diplomat's injury

In an interview Friday, Yu said he was traveling with his wife in a consulate vehicle when he saw a patrol car with flashing lights behind him. Yu said he stopped and waited several minutes, but drove off when the officer stayed in his car and took no apparent action.

While the police should not have hit him - you don't drive off when you are stopped by the police. You are asking for trouble.




As the officer exited his patrol car, the source said, Yu greeted him with loud curses.

A consulate spokesman said Yu's rear license plate had been stolen, but the diplomat thought having a front plate was enough. Texas law requires front and rear plates.

Aaron Suder, staff attorney with the Houston Police Officers Union, dismissed Yu's claim of a police assault as “categorically false.”

“When and if there's a video that's made public we are absolutely confident that the actions of the police officers involved will be justified,” he said.

The issue is not resolved yet.

Interesting that the driver drove to a safe zone - as law officers are not allowed to enter foreign diplomatic offices - which I guess technically the cops did not do - they were only in the garage.

From the Chron article:

Unresolved Friday was whether city police had jurisdiction on consulate property. Parker reported police said they were unaware they were on property owned by the Chinese government.

The consulate has a large sign and usually flies the Chinese flag. The garage has a smaller sign designating it as consulate property.

Under the Vienna Convention of Consular Relations, police can enter a consulate's property only by the invitation or to protect the consulate from a grave threat such as a fire or mass shooting, said South Texas College of Law professor Geoffrey Corn.

“If they thought the person they were pursuing was dangerous to consular staff,” he said, “there's a provision that says permission is presumed. But this is nothing like that.”

Parker said McClelland has issued a directive that all beat officers receive the address of every consulate in the city.

[elnina]

I think we should know exactly what the camera recorded. Then we can make comments.
BTW: A garage or even a space before the garage IS a property of the Consulate.

[zhugeliang1]

Yu greeted him with loud curses.

Oh, I want to hear a tape of that.

[Zhang Fei]

I think the fact is that the combination of (1) the cops entered Chinese territory (i.e. Chinese consulate property stateside is Chinese territory, just as US consulate property in China is American territory) to arrest the diplomat, and (2) diplomatic immunity, means that the cops don't have a leg to stand on, no matter what the diplomat said to them. It'll be interesting to see what measures the mayor takes to placate both the Chinese government and the State Department, who have good reason to fear that the Chinese will administer some kind of tit-for-tat retaliation against their personnel (which is why diplomatic immunity exists - to prevent these kinds of things from happening).

[matthou]

Originally Posted by HookTheBrotherUp

I wonder why China is complaining,

The rumor is Miya Shay is trying to make a name for herself so she turned it in to abc13. Great for Miya but she's a peon like the other reporters.

[zhugeliang1]

By the way who is allowed to work in the Chinese consulate, only Chinese nationals are allowed to work there, right?

[TexasVines]

I like the Chinese as a people just fine and if their government works for them then that is their business, but I think this will be good for Houston in general.

Sometimes dealing with people from a culture like China that has been known to use some force from time to time......using a little force of your own kind of reminds them of what is going on.

The Chinese have a long history dealing with Houston and Texas they will be quick to get over this and some might even laugh about it behind closed doors.

Sometimes mid level bureaucrats get slapped around in places in like China even if by mistake. Just tell them the same thing they would hear in China.....So sorry.....now don't let it happen to yourself again.

We need to handle this just like it would be handled in China. Just give out some unclear press release and say it has been looked into and everything is settled and put the officers right back on street patrol where they belong.

If it gets really bad have obongo send them some special American gift with a made in China label on the bottom

or maybe we can give the accuser a trip to the white house and obongo can bow to them a few times and say sorry