French police said yesterday that they have opened an inquiry after a Chinese man was shot dead by police at his Paris home, triggering riots in the French capital by members of the Chinese community and a diplomatic protest by Beijing.
The shooting on Sunday, which led China’s foreign ministry to call in a French diplomat, brought about a 100 members of the French-Chinese community on to the streets in Paris’s main Chinatown district on Monday night.
Some protesters threw projectiles outside the district’s police headquarters and a number of vehicles were torched in a confrontation with riot police.
Media reports said that a 56-year-old man of Chinese origin was shot dead at his home on Sunday night in front of his family after police were called to investigate an altercation with a neighbour.
Police said the man attacked police with scissors, adding that an inquiry had been opened.
Lawyer Calvin Job said the family of the dead man “totally disputes this version of events”.
“He didn’t injure anyone,” Job said, adding that the man had been “trimming fish with a pair of scissors” when the police came to the door.
The man’s family members insist that there was no domestic dispute and a neighbour had called the police after hearing shouting.
“Police forced open the door of the apartment, pushing him back,” Job said.
The man did not rush towards the officers, and the police “shot without warning”, he said.
A police watchdog was due to interview the family, Job said.
Police said they questioned 35 people after Monday’s street protests and three members of the police had been treated for slight injuries, they said.
In Beijing, the foreign ministry said yesterday that it had summoned a French diplomat to explain events.
Beijing calls on Paris to “guarantee the safety and legal rights and interests of Chinese citizens in France and to treat the reaction of Chinese people to this incident in a rational way”, ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular press briefing.
“Meanwhile, we hope that our citizens ... in France can express their wishes and demands in a lawful and reasonable way,” the spokeswoman added.
She also said Beijing also sought a thorough investigation by French authorities and steps to be ensure the safety of Chinese citizens in France.
Estimates put the size of the Chinese community in Paris at between 200,000 and 300,000.
Many of the first-generation Chinese nationals who live in the French capital came here in the 1980s and many work in the textile industry.
The French police have come under criticism for suspected violence in recent months following the highly-publicised case of a black youth worker who was allegedly sodomised with a police baton.
Several demonstrations have been staged since the February 2 incident involving the 22-year-old.
French police face off with members of the Chinese community during a protest outside a police station in Paris, following the shooting death of a Chinese man at his Paris home on Sunday, triggering riots in the French capital.
