LONDON: China said on Wednesday the British government had failed to fulfil its obligations under international law to protect its consulate premises and personnel and its Manchester consul general had returned home as part of a rotation of officials.

Earlier the British government said China had removed six officials who police wanted to question over the treatment of a man who said he was kicked and punched while protesting outside the Chinese consulate in Manchester.

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"The Chinese consul general in Manchester has completed his term of office and has returned to China upon instruction not long ago. This is a normal rotation of Chinese consular officials," a Chinese embassy spokesperson said in a statement posted on Twitter.