Clashes erupt in Paris after police kill Chinese man

Violence in Paris over the police killing of a Chinese man has left three police officers injured with more than 30 people detained.

Demonstrators gathered outside a police station on Monday to pay homage to the slain man, the BBC reported.

His family denies police reports that he attacked an officer with a pair of scissors as they responded to reports of a domestic violence at his home.

China has formally complained, calling on France to protect its nationals.

"The foreign ministry pays special attention to the incident. Just after the case, the ministry demanded the Chinese Embassy in France to launch a mechanism of actions in case of emergencies and filed a protest to the French side," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeperson Hua Chunying was quoted as saying by Sputnik.

The 56-year-old Liu Shaoyo, father of five, was shot dead on Sunday night in Paris's 19th arrondissement (district).

The police say he attacked an officer with a sharp object as soon as he came to the door and the officer was only saved by his bullet-proof vest. Another officer then shot him dead.

But the family lawyer says it "totally disputes" this account.

One of the man's daughters told French media that her father, who spoke little French, had gone to the door holding a pair of scissors he had been using to prepare fish.

"They smashed the door in, the shot went off and my father ended up on the floor," she told the Parisian newspaper.

China's Foreign Affairs Ministry has lodged an official protest, urging French authorities to do all they can to shed light on the incident and to protect its nationals' "security and rights".

China's intervention is unusual, says the BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris. The government in Beijing has spoken out in the past about the threat to Chinese tourists in Paris from criminal gangs, but this is the first time it has implicitly criticised an action by the French police.

The police watchdog is due to interview the family later on Tuesday.

At least 150 people took part in Monday's protest, some shouting "Murderers!"

There were accusations of police brutality last month, after a young black man said the police had sodomised him with a truncheon.

--IANS

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