Another Day, Another Awkward Annise Parker Statement On HPD

• all this shit over a lisence plate! theirs killers out here that get a pad on the back and released, were is the real justice?? the real bad guys get treated better than the guy missin a lisence plate!the whole system is screwed up!

• How would HPD officers know that the Chinese guy is a diplomat to leave him alone once he entered that garage? He could have been any Asian guy running from the police. Communism is evil.

• It is very sad that this incident happened. There is absolutely NO excuse to arrest and injure a diplomat in the embassy. If the police is using the excuse that they dont know it is in the Chinese embassy, they are either telling a lie, or really stupid not to know

• I am reposting this link, since it contains an article so pertinent to issues raised on this forum: http://law.hofstra.edu/pdf/Academics/Journals/LawReview/lrv_issues_v36n02_DD1-Morris.pdf Bye.

• A footnote to http--law.hofstra.edu-pdf... "88. Zaid, supra note 78, at 624 ('If the perception of diplomatic immunity in the United States had to be summarized by one word, that word would likely be misunderstood.'). Further, '[m]isconceptions over the notion of diplomatic immunity do not stop with the average American on the street, but dangerously extend to local law enforcement personnel.� Id. at 626; see also Hickey & Fisch, supra note 6, at 375 ('[I]t is far more likely that a diplomat will be a victim of crime than a criminal offender.')."

• Houstonian, there isn't one nation on this planet whose diplomats have not abused the law of immunity with impunity. Your focus on the US is prejudicial, since all nation states have violated human rights.

• http://avalon.law.yale.edu/default.asp The above link provides access to thousands of documents detailing laws of diplomacy. Although diplomats notoriously abuse the concept of immunity, legal recourse exists. A state may petition a foreign government to withdraw a diplomat's immunity.

• If you anyone who do not think diplomat immunity grant them impunity, please refer to the incident when 10 to 15 CIA employees working as diplomats stationed at the U.S embassy in Italy, when they kidnapped an Italian citizen, who we considered as a terrorist and a danger to our country in the middle of daylight in front of a crowd of people. The Italian people was outrage and demanded the Italian high court to indict all of these CIA employees on kinapping charges and request our government for extradition of these people. Our country never answer to their demand, reference dplomat immunity.

• giving a cop lip or a piece of your mind is not a crime and if cops can't take a little guff from the citizenry they better look for another line of work. that is what the expert cops said when that dumb cop at harvard took down an old black guy with a cane who turned out to be a professor in his own house. his offense. he talked back. a good cop would have defused the situation instead of going postal at a little lip from a citizen.

• hopefully these errant cops will not be granted immunity for acting with impunity. talk to people before you subdue and cuff them. you might learn something. most are just going about their business. what was the crime? driving while chinese without a rear tag? we don't need a police force that treats every citizen as if they are a dangerous criminal. the vast majority are not.

• RW, i totally disagree your post about diplomatic immunity does not grant one impunity. Do you realize where all of our CIA staff abroad are station at and most CIA clandestine employees are undercover as diplomat, because of diplomatic immunity law that will save them from persecution from other government. Not only the United State, but all of the other countries are using this diplomatic immunity treaty to their advantage to spy on other country. Yes it does grant them impunity.

• A correction to my comment above in which I'd written "the incident involved some diplomacy." I'd intended to write: The incident should have considered diplomatic relations. A diplomat should conduct himself diplomatically.

• ANON, I agree wholeheartedly with your four most recent posts, all plausible and intelligently communicated.

• Tom wrote: "He was sure able to open that door on the consulate garage and he apparently had a front tag. why would somebody impersonating a diplomat drive around with a missing tag? which one of the officers involved are you? the cops roughed this man up because he did not obey them and because they are too stupid to conduct business without getting violent. this incident called for some diplomacy. if they didn't know how to handle it they should have asked someone. nobody was threatened, no serious crime had occurred, why the resort to excessive force? one of the cops is vietnamese. i wonder if he has some bad feelings toward the chinese." Tom, I agree with you that the incident involved some diplomacy. A diplomat should conduct himself with all due propriety and respect for local custom and laws. Diplomatic immunity does not grant one "impunity." The diplomat, if he had the presence of mind to behave like an honest, law-abiding person and a gentleman, should have calmly and politely offered to show the officer some proper identification, rather than so arrogantly antagonizing the law enforcement officer by shouting at him to leave. Why do you assume I am one of those officers? Because I have not demonstrated by my comments any prejudice or animosity toward the HPD, as you have?

• anon, the circumstances under which the police can enter the consulate are very very limited. If there is a big fire and they're trying to save lives, or if there's been a massive shooting, or if they are invited onto the grounds by consulate officials. They are definitely not allowed to pursue a traffic violator onto consulate grounds and should have contacted the consulate to determine who they were chasing.

• J.J, it is not as simple or minor as you think it is. People in China and different factions of the Chinese government will want answer. You have to understand the Chinese people are high on nationalism and an incident like this is view as a slap in the face. Just as in the EP3 incident a few years back when China and its economy was no where powerful as it is today, both government will work together and smooth thing out to satisfy different factions in the government and the public who want more than a diplomatic solution. Even back then example was being made of the crew members. They were detained for a period of time, the plane was dismantle to serveral thousand pieces and sent back to the U.S. This incident happen in international water. The HPD incident happen on Chinese soil. In the west we are often taught if we are slap to turn the other cheek in Asian respect and reputation is a moral code, you don't turn the other cheek.

• There was no magical gate or security gaurds posted outside to verify with the consulate that the driver of the vehicle was a diplomat. When a cop gets behind a vehicle they use the rear plate to get information. With no rear plate the cop new nothing about the driver except that he was running from the police for some reason. Police CAN drive onto the consulate property under certain circumstances. There was no gate or gaurds posted. The big issue in the news was that a Chinese diplomat was beaten, and that is what the mayor was talking about when she said the officers where within their limits. She was saying they didnt use excessive force or beat the guy; she was NOT saying they were within their rights to touch the guy at all. That was the mistake. Obviously he shouldnt have been touched and that's where the miscommunication came in. It IS a minor issue that will get cleared up. The officers made a mistake and should have been more aware of their surroundings. Everybody makes mistakes, people! That's all it was; an error. HPD didn't beat the man like all the headlines say.

• Tom - it would have been nice if the officer had stopped at the gate and found a way to verify with the consulate that the man entering was in fact a diplomat with the protections and then allowed his superiors within HPD to handle the diplomacy of asking the consulate to ensure that they replace the missing license plate and to please consider in the future stopping for HPD officers when pulled over. This is not, however, the situation we find ourselves in. Each level of authority who doesn't 'fix' the situation allows the issue to move up a level of authority which then has more power to affect people at lower levels, along with more visible responsibility to do so. It quickly moved to the head of our city, Mayor Parker, who seems to have misjudged the necessary response. Now it is in the hands of the State Department and hopefully they have ways of 'fixing' it that aren't too traumatic for our officers or city. We are having a tough time filling our police ranks with enough qualified officers, and it's really a shame that 3 officers are off the beat now, particularly in the 'crime free Montrose.'

• video: sorry mayor, the officers did not act within their authority at the scene. they had no right to be there. what part of inviolability of consular premises don't you understand?

• Good points. Damage control was deficient and they just did their standard litany of appropriate use of force, the police can do no wrong, etc. total lack of any diplomacy. the diplomacy should have started with the cop talking with the chinese guy rather than decking him.

• I think a great deal of this discussion misses the point entirely. This particular incident is overall, minor. The reasons why the treaties concerning consulates and embassies are they way they are in the first place is because different cultures handle law and order differently. I am not Chinese, so it is outside my ability to imagine, but it is entirely possible that Yu acted in a way that would have been acceptable for someone of his position in his home country. I don't know. That's why we have the protections. And really, the point is that issue here is actually larger than the three officers, the diplomat, etc. If countries feel that Houston is a hostile place for their international seats, they will simply move them. We can't afford that if we would like to be known as the world's energy capital and continue to attract international operations to our city. Sometimes people have to apologize, even if they feel they are in the right. And that's what should have happened here, days ago. A quickly assembled press conference with three repentant officers who offer apologies for <b>inadvertently</b> violating Chinese sovereignty along with a mayor and police chief who then offer solutions (such as the one they offered already, sending the addresses of all consulates and embassies to all beat officers... or a plan to more clearly mark consular buildings on the outside) could have all gone a long way to putting the whole issue to bed already. As a Texan, it would sting a little to watch in the short term, but not as much as it's going to sting if the State Department gets pushed into a position where they feel they must take some kind of action to repair the damage for us.

• There is a sign on the door and a mob of falung gong demonstrators out in front. Plus, it is his beat and it is a high security location. Quang loses points for incomplete situational awareness. No you cannot follow someone into a Consulate. Got it?

• 1. The consul was an idiot. 2. The HPD officers were bigger idiots 3. The garage had to be opened by the consulate security personnel. It's not like the garage was unguarded. After all, the entrance is considered an international border. So the excuse for not recognizing the consulate is really lame. 4. Consul Yu did get out of the car and had his diplomatic ID in his hand while saying something like "You are on Chinese property, you have to leave!" Of course, the consul's version was more colorful. 5. China does not consider the US as a hostile country therefore they did not place military guards on all entrances. That's fortunate for officer Tran and his pals.

• Officer Quang Tran, it suck to be you right now. I know you was just following HPD protocol, but national law and interest come before local law or state law. Let hope that the Chinese government are more worry about their trade interest with our country then demanding justice for their diplomat. If they choose the latter, its not the Local government you should be concern about, The U.S state department will make an example out of you.

• also, in this news clip if you click on the video at about 1:30 it shows the building and to me it's not that obvious what the building is. http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/video?id=7416777 I think the officer was just focused on the car that he pulled over and the fact that the guy was running from him; he just didn't focus on the building.

• tom, have you ever been pulled over? If you have then you know it takes the cop a minute before they actually walk up to your window. Apparently Yu didn't feel like waiting and just drove off. Officer Tran didn't get the chance to look at the front plate because Yu came storming up to the police car yelling and cursing. You say that Yu represented no threat to him, but if somebody comes up to me yelling, cursing and getting in my face I'm going to feel threatened. That's why Yu was cuffed; he was being aggressive. Yes, Tran should have been more aware of his surroundings, but in the heat of the moment near the back side of the building that is only marked with a small sign he obviously missed it. The front side of the building is clearly marked and obvious, but the back garage area is not. Like I said, as soon as the cops realized this was a diplomat and not some random jerk he was let go.

• what took quang tran so long when Yu stopped the first time? Had he gotten out of his car and actually talked to the guy the guy he stopped he could have settled the whole matter. the other two couldn't read the signs on the consulate either (and know not to enter)? how do you know Yu didn't identify himself? didn't quang tran look at the front tag before he cuffed the guy on Chinese sovereign territory? quang tran should familiarize himself with the surroundings of his beat. a consulate is a high security location police should know is there since they might have to protect it. the cop used excessive force. he didn't have to cuff the guy. yu represented no threat to him. he probably was just getting his rocks off like cops do all the time. this was a chinese man with his chinese wife going into the chinese consulate who was able to open the garage door or cause it to be opened by chinese security personnel he had a diplomatic tag on the front of his car.

• Anon, I agree. It was probably poor communication. I blame it on HPD training. He should of back off and leave the premises. like I mention on earlier post, these HPD officers are very lucky that our country is relatively safe and many countries do not have armed guard guarding their consulate, if it was in another country, most likely these officers would have been in a body bag.

• I know what happened: The police officer (Quang Tran) saw a vehicle with no rear plate and turned on the lights to pull the car over. The car finally pulled over near the Chinese consulate building. Yu waited for a minute and then got impatient that the police officer had not come up to his window yet so he drove off. Obviously, officer Tran never saw or spoke to Yu so all he sees is a car with no rear plate and the person is just taking off and running. Yu then pulls into the parking garage of the consulate building and officer Tran follows him in not realizing where he just pulled into. Yu immediately gets out of his car and runs up to officer Tran yelling and cursing in his face "you can't do that, you can't arrest me"! So the officer reacted in the same manner he would for anyone that came up to him yelling and being aggressive; he pinned him to the ground and cuffed him. After other officers arrived and realized Yu was probably a diplomat he was uncuffed and released, but the damage was done. All Yu had to do was show the officer his credentials in the first place. Obviously it was not a racist thing; the officer that pulled him over is named Quang Tran....seriously come on people. The whole thing was a misunderstanding and poor communication. A cop is in danger every single time he pulls a car over because that driver could have a gun in his hand and shoot the cop as soon as he walks up. Cops have to treat everybody as a threat for their own safety. period.

• RW, that is not the point. the point is they are in Chinese soil, which they do not have permission to be in. Because U.S is relatively safe country, most countries do not have armed guard guarding their embassy and consulate. The many countries I have traveled to, our U.S embassy have a 20 feet wall surrounding the embassy with the other countries armed military personnels guarding the outside surrounding wall and armed Marine guarding the inside. If these HPD officer was law enforcement personnel from another country chasing a U.S citizen or diplomat into the U.S embassy like these HPD officer did without permission, they would have been fired upon by their own military troop.

• He was sure able to open that door on the consulate garage and he apparently had a front tag. why would somebody impersonating a diplomat drive around with a missing tag? which one of the officers involved are you? the cops roughed this man up because he did not obey them and because they are too stupid to conduct business without getting violent. this incident called for some diplomacy. if they didn't know how to handle it they should have asked someone. nobody was threatened, no serious crime had occurred, why the resort to excessive force? one of the cops is vietnamese. i wonder if he has some bad feelings toward the chinese.

• If the diplomat's license plate was not present, or if the vehicle had not otherwise been clearly marked as a diplomat's, and if the diplomat did not diplomatically offer proof of identity, rather than shout at the officers to leave the premises, how were the officers to trust that the suspect was not merely evading arrest for a more serious offense, other than license-plate violations? How are the officers to know, without the diplomat presenting proper identification, that he is, in fact, a diplomat? Without the diplomat's offering proof of identity -- a diplomat's license plate is insufficient as ID, since this diplomat himself claimed that his license plate had been stolen, the officers have no way of knowing with reasonable certainty that any individual is not fraudulently presenting himself as a diplomat. It is possible that an individual attempting to evade arrest for a very serious violent offense could attempt to elude law enforcement by simply driving onto consulate territory and falsely claiming diplomatic status.

• I think the point is that this guy didn't commit a serious offense. He claims his license plate was stolen and he didn't notice. All the cops needed to do was send him a warning to the Chinese Consulate or have somebody in diplomatic liaison in the city government do so. They didn't need to go in there illegally to rough him up over a license plate. This was a costly mistake that could be reciprocated against one of our people in China. Back in the late 70's after a Cuban diplomat got broken into in the US under suspicious circumstances i got the reciprpcal treatment in Havana. They took one sock of each pair, my camera with some priceless photos of a us cuba boxing match and left the puppy dog in the refrigerator. He survived to protect us another day.

• Let me explain to the many people who have not travel outside of the U.S, what is a embassy and consulate is. I often traveled to the many countries in Southeast Asian on business occasions, and many times I would go to our U.S embassy to get travel information or visas to other countries. On one occassion in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam I was joined by my cousin, a high ranking public official in Vietnam. He was curious and wanted to see what a U.S embassy look like. Upon entering the embassy gate, we were stop by the Vietnamese military personnels that was guarding the front gate of the U.S embassy. I was allowed to enter, because I was a U.S citizen. He was denied entry, even after showing his credential. The guard (Vietnamese Military personnels) repeatly apologized to him and told him beyond the gate is U.S soil, they cannot allow anyone beside U.S citizen or non U.S citizen that have permission by the the U.S state department to gain access into the embassy. Only the U.S state department have the authority to grant non U.S citizen visitation into the embassy, and proceed to give him an information pamphlet written in Vietnamese about the U.S embassy and U.S State Department. After the incident, I have often make joking remark in front of him to our family members and friends, that he has boasting about his position in the Vietnamese government. If he was really a high ranking public official, how come he was denied access by his own military personnels into the U.S embassy.

• From the article contained in the above-noted link to Hofstra's legal journal: "Article 32 of the Vienna Convention allows the receiving state to request that the sending state rescind the diplomat�s immunity.38 If the waiver is granted, the diplomat will be forced to answer for his or her crimes in a criminal or civil court just like any other person in the country.39 A different remedy is found in Article 31. This provision enables the receiving state to request the sending state to discipline the diplomat back in the sending state using their own judicial system.40 Under this provision of the Vienna Convention, a country such as the United States would not have to worry about a potentially defective foreign justice system condemning an innocent United States diplomat abroad.41 Instead, the American diplomat would receive a trial in an American court of law and would be entitled to all the protections that the United States Constitution provides.42"

• This in-depth article offers an informative discussion of the problems of diplomatic crime and offers possible solutions: http://law.hofstra.edu/pdf/Academics/Journals/LawReview/lrv_issues_v36n02_DD1-Morris.pdf

• This very important article discusses in detail the problem of diplomatic crime and possible solutions: http://law.hofstra.edu/pdf/Academics/Journals/LawReview/lrv_issues_v36n02_DD1-Morris.pdf

• Let see if these 3 HPD police officers will ever get extradited to China for injuring a public official, after all they did commit a crime on foreign soil. Its really doesn't matter they were a local or Federal law enforcement personnel. let hope our state department can smooth thing out with the Chinese government. If I was these police officers now, I'll be shitting in my pants.

• Quoted from the link I'd noted above: "Diplomats are famous for driving recklessly and often under the influence of alcohol. According to the New York Police Department, in April, a young Russian attach�Ilya Sergeyevich Morozov, was allegedly driving drunk when he struck and injured a New York police officer who was trying to stop him from barreling into a closed roadway. Morozov was protected by diplomatic immunity and let go."

• Aussie George: Grow up! The problem is not whether the stupid cops chased a car without a license plate. The problem is that these cops entered the Chinese Consulate, which they have absolutely no right to do. Do you want to see the Chinese cops bust the US Consulate in China? The cops are shameless to say that they didn't know that was the Chinese Consulate. First of all, they should be fired if they truly didn't know. Their training class 101 should have taught them where the foreign consulates are and how to recognize them because they cannot enforce the local laws in these places. Secondly, this Chinese diplomat clearly identified himself as a diplomat after he entered the consulate garage as caught on the surveillance camera in the Chinese Consulate. And yet, the cops still assaulted him right inside the Chinese territory! This simply goes to show the arrogance, ignorance, and stupidity of the cops. Things like this are very serious because you don't want to the polices in foreign countries to use all sorts of excuses to enter the US consulates and to abuse US diplomats in foreign countries, don't you?

• Regarding Diplomatic Immunity issues: http://www.rd.com/your-america-inspiring-people-and-stories/diplomatic-immunity-going-too-far/article30238.html

• Oi! Wake up you miaowing gugus, no matter how silly the coppers where, they tried to do their job; if any of ya where in their place you'll do the same... You will try to stop a car with no plates, and if the car will not stop, you will chase it. Now here i have to make a remark: a terrorist driving a car bomb, will take the plates off the car to make it harder to be identified isn't it so? So, only for this reason the blokes deserves a gong as big as a fry pan, not desk duties; and to continue with commonsense, not even the best copper, during a chase, will be able to work out every little detail like a plate stating that there is a diplomatic mission. A cop is a cop, and he or she is best at chasing suspects, in any conditions; the rest is up to spin doctors to work the details. So, a person driving a car with no plates, refusing to stop, running into a garage with not much a marking of a diplomatic mission (in fact, the markings are very small and at the front of the building, and nothing on the sides, where the garage is), screaming his lungs out to the a visibly marked police to live the "Chinese property" had this coming to him. In fact, the mission shall apologize for the confusion has created. And if they don't like it, good riddance and bye, bye.

• It is sop to beat the tar out of ANYBODY who does not obey the Houston gestapo no matter how minor the violation. They will kill for less. They are apparently too dumb to know not to bust a diplomat and don't know what a diplomatic license plate is, cant read signs, can't understand what the words consulate and diplomat mean and are too stupid to call in and ask someone who deos before they act rashly. Three mean cops for a missing license plate? Come on. These good old boys should never wear a badge again. They don't have the brains for it. I served for over 30 years in Consulates and Embassies overseas and usually cops gave anybody in a diplomatic vehicle wide berth. If pulled over, which I never was, showing diplomatic id was usually enough. Even in Cuba! And never did I see the Consulate premises violated, not even in a fire! Either Houston is an important city worthy of a Consulate General or it is a hick town with pretensions. Cops behavior indicates the latter.

• Sigh: After entering the Chinese consulate garage, Yu got out of car, clearly informed the officers that he is a Chinese diplomat, and requested the officers to leave the Chinese consulate property. However, these officers ignored him and arrested and beat him anyway.

• Cat: You are so full of shit. The police entered the Chinese Consulate and that is Chinese territory not the US territory! This is just like the US Consulate in China is the US territory. It absolutely does not matter what the Chinese diplomat did outside the Chinese consulate, once he is inside the Chinese consulate, you cannot just enter that Chinese territory to arrest him. This is international law we the US accept and these are the rights our own diplomats enjoy in other countries too. Stopping being an idiot.

• There seem to be parts missing from this report: 1. Actually, Yu did stop, but the HPD officer just stayed in his car so Yu left. I'm sure he could have done this or he should have shown that. I don't know, but I just want to debunk the report that he didn't even slow down. 2. Assuming that the HPD officers didn't know where they were and all that, then it's just unfortunate for them because according to Texas/U.S. law, they may not be in trouble at all. But after viewing the security cameras at the consulate garage, Parker said "While I wish the vice consul had been treated more gently, the officers apparently acted within their authority at the scene." Repeating the commenters above, no matter what led up to this point, the HPD officers are still in the wrong because diplomats have immunity. Shouldn't a politician know better than to make a statement like that? It's perhaps more angering that someone who should understand the treaties (re: JJ's post about treaties) and the importance of immunity and protection of rights would make such an ignorant statement. Again, if the officers really didn't know where they were or who Yu was, then I sympathize their situation now. But I find it very hard to understand Parker's words because I'm an average American and I know better than to say who was right or who was wrong until after the investigation, which is still ongoing. Kyle also made a very good point about protecting our diplomats and citizens traveling abroad in any country. The power of the consulate should not be undermined - the U.S. needs it for its diplomats to even be in many countries because it would be unsafe to do so otherwise. Bottom line is, Yu has immunity and during the struggle, the officers were on Chinese soil. Tough luck for them. Parker and the HPD will probably have to issue an apology soon. The U.S.-China relations are bad enough as it is...

• That particular consulate is very well marked and typically has protesters outside. I simply don't accept that any beat cop wouldn't have realized where they were entering. I don't know about being shot, but the consulate is sovereign Chinese soil, which is a necessary protection for all diplomatic staff internationally. Two treaties cover this, the Vienna Convention as well as a specific bilateral agreement with China. Under no circumstances should the officers have entered, regardless of the circumstances leading up to his entry onto consular grounds. Some nations would consider these actions a declaration of war, and China considers this (by most reports) an extremely serious incident. The cowboy attitude may make people feel better, but it is a great way to end up in a war with a power we really don't need to be fighting, and to subject our diplomats overseas to treatment we would not prefer.

• The car was only missing the front plate (which is allowed in some states, not Texas) and anyway, diplomatic plates are a novelty item that get stolen all the time. It doesn't matter that he ran and frankly it doesn't even matter that he was Chinese. Police are not allowed to pursue a suspect into sovereign Chinese territory. Proper procedure would have been to cover the exits and get in touch with the consulate and inquire whether the person was a Chinese diplomat or an American criminal. If it was a criminal the consulate would probably be all too happy to turn him over. Security at the consulate would have been well within their rights to shoot every one of these invading officers.

• He is a Diplomat and he does not have to follow US laws whatsoever. The guards at the Chinese Consulate could have shot those polices dead upon the invasion. Those polices are very lucky that they're still alive.

• Hey, reports said the car was missing only one plate!!!

• Hell, if I know where the Chinese Embassy is, why don't the police?

• Ok, so clearly, here we have failure to comprehend the matter. We're all so ready to jump on HPD (as are most Chinese folks, based on the comments I've seen). HPD has its problems, but this guy was acting suspiciously. He had a car with no plates. How could the officers have known he was a diplomat? A car with no plates + no stopping + entering a parking garage = very suspicious. All Mr. Yu had to do was stop when they asked him to stop and show his diplomatic passport. Had he done that, none of this would have happened. And as for the suggestion that he had important documents in his car, so what? All he had to was FLASH HIS DIPLOMATIC PASSPORT. They then wouldn't have been able to search his car OR issue a ticket, because he would have been able to explain his situation. Instead, Mr. Yu made a bad decision. People were upset that the officers followed him into the consulate garage. The officers claim they didn't know it was a consulate garage. That may or may not be true, but the fact remains is, how could the officers possibly have known that he was a Chinese citizen until after they finally got him out of the car to talk him? Isn't it just as likely it could have been a criminal driving onto Chinese territory in a desperate bid to claim immunity? The problem here is that they roughed him up. If, once he got out of the car and showed that he was a Chinese diplomat and they STILL roughed him up, then that is definitely bad. However, the question still remains: why was Mr. Yu driving a car without plates? Why didn't he just stop? Did he not have his papers on him? How could the police have known--with the little information they were given--that he wasn't a criminal?

• COPS, Yep he was a big threat to the license plat division. HPD - worthless

• Those yahoo, hillbilly Houston cops are clearly out of control. Lou www.anon-vpn.se.tc

• John, no matter what did Yu do before he entered the consulate, even if he just murdered 100 people on the street, once he's inside, you cannot touch him. The consulate is considered as part of China not US. You cannot just go to Mexico to arrest somebody without any legal permit, can you? Oh wait, maybe we can. But then again, it's China we are talking about here, not some small countries we usually bully around.

• OK.. chasing a diplomat into his own mission's parking garage is pretty bad. But how the heck did he manage to sustain head injuries during the arrest? Isn't this the real issue - that they used such force, over a misdemeanor traffic suspect? They were fortunate that consulate security didn't catch those officers in a shootout. I suspect if the same thing had happened to a US diplomat in a US consultate, our Marines would've made sure the foreign offiers didn't leave with their hides intact. Now that would've caused a diplomatic incident.

• Surge, did you missed the part of the article that states "Yu complicated matters by not slowing down and instead heading to the consulate,"? Continuing to drive to a parking garage and causing officers to chase you into the building is clearly suspicious behavior and will result in detention and possible arrest. It's called choices and consequences. And YY, please explain how officers would determine the identity of a driver without initiating a traffic stop? And contrary to your belief, a foreign diplomat is NOT immuned from being detained by US law enforcement authorities during any investigation, regardless of the level of crime being investigated.

• thanks for pointing that out Phil!

• Cat: If China did this to an American diplomat at an American consul, you'd be crying for blood.

• Cat: You're bringing down the curve...

• No matter how Mayor Parker tries to spin it, HPD if full of power hungry civil rights violating punks. Phony investigations by the police into their own behavior are not believable and as long as our Mayor puts up with the cops whitewashing everything this type of crap will continue.

• Cat: diplomats may not stop for a reason. he may carried classified documents and it is his duty for not stopping.

• Between this and the recent beating, it appears that HPD is full of idiots. Cat, diplomatic immunity is a very important principle, and protects *our* foreign diplomats from being prosecuted by laws they are not fully familiar with. I'd hate to see one of our diplomats arrested and flogged for chewing gum (a crime in some countries where we have a diplomatic presence) just because they weren't aware it was illegal.

• Cat No matter what Yu did, he was arrested on the property of Chinese consulate. That's absolutely wrong. It is recognized as foreign soil, not US soil. What HPD did is inexcusable. How would you feel if Chinese police entered US consulate in China and arrested a US diplomat?

• man had no license plate showing; violation 1 The man did not pull over for the police, violation 2 The man "ran" from police, violation 3 The police were doing their job. I don't give a darn if he was some sort of special Chinese diplomat. He is over here, in Texas, USA and is SUPPOSED to follow our laws. He is not supposed to get a free ride at our expense. Throw him in jail and fine his butt just like would happen to any US citizen who attempted what he did. There should be no such thing as diplomatic immunity, IMHO. Oh, and btw, since the license plate was not showing the police had no way of knowing the idiot was any kind of diplomat.

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