An assembly member has said she is proud of her son after he was arrested while taking part in a pro-Tibet demonstration in London.
Anna Lo said she wants China to negotiate with the Dalai Lama.
Her son, Conall Hon, abseiled from Westminster Bridge and unfurled a Free Tibet banner on Saturday.
Ms Lo said she had received criticism from members of the Chinese community in Northern Ireland, as many support China’s stance on Tibet.
However, she has insisted she is “not anti-China”.
Her 26-year-old son, a member of the Students for a Free Tibet group, was released on bail at the weekend.
He said: “As someone with Chinese and British roots, I feel strongly that Britain must take a firm stance against China’s abuses in Tibet.
“If the Chinese government wants acceptance from the international community, it must immediately stop its baseless attacks on the Dalai Lama and start working toward a meaningful solution to the Tibetan issue.”
Chinese regime
Ms Lo, an Alliance Party assembly member for South Belfast, said her son had continued to be active in the movement after joining it while at university.
“It is something we feel very important about – that China, now wanting to be a superpower… adheres to international standards in human rights.
“I know that a lot of Chinese people here [Northern Ireland] are very patriotic about China,” she told BBC News.
“And, in fact, I fell out with some members of my family because my son was so active in Free Tibet.
“But I keep on saying to members of my family that we are not against Chinese people – we are only against the Chinese government, the Chinese regime and its policies.”
