DHARAMSHALA, March 28: Five members of France regional chapter of Tibetan Youth Congress were arrested for a protest against Chinese President Xi Jinping near the Chinese embassy in Paris.
The five protesters, Kyilay Namdol, Sonam, Tenzin Wangdu, Tashi Dorjee and Tashi Dolma, were later released.
They raised slogans such as ‘Free Tibet’, ‘Tibet belongs to Tibetan’, and ‘Shame on you Xi’. Kyilay Namdol, President of RTYC France said, “Whenever a leader of country visits Paris, we see national flag of that particular nation on their car, but I was amazed to see that Xi’s car had no Chinese flag on it and Xi, despite being a President of one of the most powerful nations, could not travel with pride in a free nation and it proves that he is guilty of lying.”
Xi Jinping is currently on his maiden trip to Europe and is scheduled to visit Germany, France and The Netherlands.
Over a hundred Tibetans and supporters carried out a protest yesterday near the Eiffel Tower carrying pictures of Tibetan self-immolators and the Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Protesters carried banners and placards that read, ‘Hollande, team up with world leaders to save Tibetan lives’ and ‘Wake up United Nations’.
Since 2009, 129 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in Tibet protesting against China’s occupation of Tibet and its hard-line policies.
An International Press Freedom advocate Reporters Without Borders also staged a protest against Xi and his government about civil liberties especially freedom of information.
China is ranked 175th out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index. With at least 30 journalists and 74 citizen-journalists currently detained. According to Reporters Without Borders, China is the world’s biggest prison for media personnel and netizens.
