This article is more than 10 months old

This article is more than 10 months old

The Metropolitan police have opened an investigation after Hong Kong’s justice minister, Teresa Cheng, fell to the ground while being surrounded by angry pro-democracy protesters outside an event in central London.

The incident on Thursday evening was the first direct altercation between demonstrators and a Hong Kong government minister since protests, now in their sixth month, erupted in the city.

Footage showed protesters, some wearing face masks and carrying phone cameras, surrounding the deeply unpopular cabinet official and yelling “shame on you”. Cheng is then seen falling to the floor, although it is not clear from video footage if she was pushed. Some protesters said she tripped on a pavement as she was jostled.

Cheng regained her feet moments later and was escorted away with no immediately visible signs of injury.

The Met police said in a statement an investigation was “ongoing to establish the full circumstances” and that no arrests had been made.

The Chinese embassy in the UK issued a strongly worded statement saying Cheng was pushed to the ground and had sustained a hand injury, and urged the British police to investigate.

“We express strong indignation and unequivocally condemn the activists,” the embassy said. “The violent and lawless perpetrators who organised via online communication committed flagrant assault on the senior official of the Hong Kong SAR government. It has once again proved that their real intention is to destabilise Hong Kong, paralyse the SAR government and undermine ‘one country, two systems’.

“Now, they are taking such violence abroad and into the UK. Their action deserves to be condemned not only by the entire Chinese people including the Hong Kong compatriots but also by the British public and the international community unanimously.”

A complaint has been lodged by the Chinese embassy with the UK Foreign Office, and Cheng issued a statement urging the police to bring any alleged culprits to justice.

Cheng was walking in the street with no obvious protection on the way to give a scheduled speech on dispute resolution at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in Bloomsbury when she was surrounded by a crowd. No police officers were visible in the footage. She was later taken to hospital but discharged.

The event was cancelled because “whilst entering the building [Cheng] was assaulted by a crowd”, the Chartered Institute said.

A protester who was at the scene denied anyone had assault Cheng. “Some [of us] got quite close to her but nobody laid a hand on her,” said the protester, who asked not to be identified. “The atmosphere was intense and she was at one point stopped by the crowd. But nobody attacked her. Then when she tried to escape from the crowd she slipped on to the ground.”

Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, said Cheng had suffered “serious bodily harm”. She described the behaviour of the protesters involved as “barbaric” and a violation of “the principles of a civilised society”.

China has long been frustrated at the reluctance of the British government to condemn Hong Kong’s protesters more unequivocally. The UK government has supported the right for peaceful protest, and condemned police overreaction.

Cheng is a detested figure among the protesters since her department is in charge of prosecuting demonstrators.

She is also regarded as having played a key role in pushing forward the now-shelved extradition bill to China, which sparked the unrest.

In Hong Kong, protests have tipped into worsening violence with two people dead in a week and further protests planned for Friday.

Protesters caused widespread disruption for a fifth straight day on Friday with barricades and rallies.

Additional reporting by Damien Gayle