By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, Oct. 5: Hundreds of protestors including Tibetan, Hong Konger, Uyghur and Chinese activist groups marched together to protest the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) ‘National Day’ on Oct. 1 in London. The groups staged a protest at the Piccadilly Circus, followed by a march across London and then onto the Chinese embassy in Portland Place, according to Free Tibet.
As the CCP celebrated its 72nd anniversary, nine organizations marked the day in central London to demonstrate against the party and its ongoing human rights abuse. Slogans including, “Free Tibet! Free Hong Kong! Free East Turkestan! Resist the CCP!” were reportedly heard from the protestors.
London-based Free Tibet CEO Sam Walton told the protestors at the site, “They are here to say stop the occupation of Tibet, and they are here to say Hong Kong needs freedom and democracy. If people in this country, where we’re free, where we have the right to protest, want to stand up for human rights, want to stand up for democracy and the rights of others, there is really no better struggle to go out and support at the moment, to be an ally for.”
Benedict Rogers, the CEO and co-founder of Hong Kong Watch addressed the crowd in Piccadilly Circus while wearing a Uyghur doppa, “If I had something Tibetan I’d have worn that too but instead I carry Tibet in my heart.” The organizers observed the event ‘Resist CCP Day’, whereby protests around the world criticized the Party and its policies in the occupied regions.
After the enforcement of the controversial National Security Law, five million Hong Kongers are eligible to apply for visas in Britain, allowing them to live, work and study here before applying to become citizens. The UK government expects more than 300,000 to take this up in the next five years. The CCP has carried out human rights abuses against Hong Kongers, Uyghurs, Mongolians, and many more occupied groups, including the majority demographic of Han Chinese people.
