French minister opens inquiry on Chinese national death, calls for calm

PARIS -- French Interior Minister Matthias Fekl on Tuesday said an inquiry has been opened after a Chinese national was shot dead by a police officer, promising full respect of the law "to establish the facts."

The Paris prosecutor opened an inquiry into the killing of a Chinese man on Sunday night after police had been called to the victim's home in Paris 19th district following reports saying he was armed with a knife and strolling around the building where he was living, according to the minister.

"Investigations will continue and will establish the facts," he said in a statement.

Fekl also called for calm "to allow the current judicial proceedings to pass with the necessary serenity," after a protest by the French-Chinese community on Monday evening turned violent.

Three policemen were injured and a police vehicle was torched during a stand-off between riot police and protesters, the minister said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry called on the French government to ascertain the truth in a quick manner and effectively protect safety and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens residing in France.

On Sunday night, a police officer shot dead a Chinese national at his home in Paris after a neighbor called the police to report a domestic dispute.

According to some French media, the policeman opened fire against "an assailant with scissors," who attacked the officer and injured him.

However, local Chinese reports, quoting a daughter of the man, said the 160-cm-tall man, a father of five children, did not attack the policeman at all.

"The (victim's) family totally disputes this version of events. He didn't injure anyone," Calvin Job, a lawyer of the man's family was quoted as saying by local media.