France said on Tuesday that it has launched an official investigation into the death of a Chinese man, who was fatally shot dead by French police earlier this week at his Paris home, sparking off riots across Paris by the Chinese community and a strong reaction from Beijing.

The shooting incident took place on Sunday night, when a 56 year old Chinese decadent was shot dead in front of his own family by French police, who were called to investigate an altercation in the neighbourhood.

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The French police claim that they were forced to fire in self defence after the Chinese man attacked them with a scissor. However, the victim's family, according to the media reports, has denied such claims. Some media reports claim that the victim was using scissor to cut a fish.

The shooting incident soon escalated into street protest, with scores of people belonging to Chinese diaspora staging a violent protest on Monday and Tuesday against the incident. According to the reports, French police have arrested 35 protesters while three policemen are being treated for minor injuries.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government has taken a note of the Paris shoot out incident. It called on the French diplomat on Tuesday to explain about the event and immediately demanded a thorough investigation by the French authorities.

In response, the French foreign ministry said that the investigation has already been launched and stressed that security of Chinese nationals is a top priority of national authorities.

"Additional (security) measures have been taken in recent months and everything has been done to provide them with the best conditions for living here and for their security," it added.

Chinese and Asian communities facing racism problem in France

Europe's largest population of ethnic Chinese community resides in France. However, Chinese and other Asian communities have often accused of being repeatedly subjected to racial abuse across the French cities.

In September last year, nearly 15,000 people participated in Paris to make a nationwide call for ending violence against the Asian community. The huge rally was staged immediately after a Chinese tailor named Chaolin Zhangh was killed in allegedly ethnically motivated attack.

Analysts claims that these attacks and protest rallies clearly shows that Asian communities and immigrants residing in France feel immensely vulnerable about their security.

Tagschina, China and France, France, Racism in France, Racism in China