Alex Yip: Conservative councillor accused of helping organise pro-Chinese demonstrations during state visit

'The police, the Government and the Conservative Party all need to come clean about exactly what they are willing to do for China'

A still image from footage of Paul Powlesland challenging pro-China supporters at the Guildhall in London

A Conservative councillor from Birmingham has been accused of helping to organise pro-Chinese demonstrations in London during last week’s state visit of President Xi Jinping.

Alex Yip, a businessman and magistrate who won a seat on Birmingham City Council at local elections in May, was spotted at several pro-China demonstrations in the capital at which people voiced their support for the CPC, the country’s ruling party.

The 32-year-old can be seen standing in the background of a video showing pro-China demonstrators being challenged by a passing cyclist in London. Footage of the incident, which features lawyer Paul Powlesland attacking China’s human rights record, went viral over the weekend and has now been viewed more than half a million times.

Alistair Currie, a spokesman for the anti-China campaign group Free Tibet, said he had spoken to Mr Yip at two separate demonstrations outside London’s Guildhall and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. When he asked him why he was “working for the bad guys”, he replied he was merely there to ensure “equal treatment” for both sets of protesters.

“At best, the presence of a Conservative politician apparently working hand in glove with the Chinese as they attempt to outflank free speech in the UK is a sign of how irrelevant human rights objections to the CPC are in our governing party,” Mr Currie said.

“The police, the Government and the Conservative Party all need to come clean about exactly what they are willing to do for China, and how far they’re willing to go in selling out human rights in Tibet, China and right here at home.”

In an email to The Independent, Mr Yip said he had accompanied the Confederation of Chinese Associations to the demonstrations where he and others had helped to calm tensions. He also acted as a translator and ensured “that both sides were able to be heard”, he said.

He added: “Because we were able to convey in Chinese the intentions of the police, and act as intermediaries to the groups, we were able to encourage both sides to calm down. We received a lot of thanks and praise from the various police officers that we helped, saying that our presence significantly helped them.”