In August 1967, China was in the throes of the Cultural Revolution. Eager to show their revolutionary fervor, Chinese diplomatic staff in London emerged from their embassy wielding iron bars and confronting the police and some journalists who were outside.
No one was significantly hurt in the scuffles that followed, but it was duly reported by Beijing as an attack by "imperialist" police on innocent Chinese.
There were echoes of that well-recorded incident in an event last week in Birmingham, England, at a side event of the annual Conservative Party conference. It was addressed by Benedict Rogers, deputy chairman of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission and activist on Hong Kong issues who established Hong Kong Watch, a group concerned with civil rights in that territory.