Beijing, Nov. 17, (dpa/GNA) – A British diplomat was hailed a hero on Chinese social media on Tuesday after rescuing a drowning student from a river in south-west China.
Stephen Ellison, consul general in Chongqing, was visiting the nearby ancient town of Zhongshan on Saturday when he heard exclamations from a crowd gathered near a river, according to a statement posted on WeChat by the British Embassy in China.
Ellison saw a woman had fallen into the water and was floating face down. A video posted by the state-run publication The Paper shows Ellison taking off his shoes and jumping in the water fully clothed.
He is shown reaching for the woman and swimming with her toward the shore. Someone had thrown in a red lifebelt, which Ellison used to bring the woman to safety.
In an interview with the BBC, Ellison said the woman, a student, recovered soon after and invited him to have a meal together.
“We are all immensely proud of our Chongqing Consul General, Stephen Ellison, who dived into a river on Saturday to rescue a drowning student and swim her to safety,” said a message posted on Twitter by the British Embassy in China.
The topic had gathered 170 million views and more than 12,000 comments on the micro-blogging site Weibo, with some commenters hailing Ellison a hero.
“Worthy of admiration. He is called a knight in Britain and a hero in China,” one commenter said.
Relations between China and Britain have hit a rocky patch after Beijing moved to curb political freedoms in Hong Kong earlier this year and after Britain banned Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei from providing 5G equipment on grounds of national security.
GNA