By Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, May 5: On the eve of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s anticipated arrival in Paris for a summit with French President Emmanuel Macron, student activists of Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) held a peaceful protest in the French capital to voice their dissent on Saturday. Xi’s visit to Europe, from May 5 to May 10, includes scheduled stops in France, Hungary, and Serbia.
In a striking display of dissent, members of SFT unfurled two banners and the Tibetan national flag in front of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France and also climbed on a flagpole. The banners bore messages of defiance and solidarity, with one boldly proclaiming, “Dictateur Xi Jinping, Ton Temps Écoulé” (Dictator Xi Jinping, Your Time Is Up), while another, written in Tibetan language that read, “In Happiness and Sorrow, Solidarity with the People of Tibet.”
Following a peaceful protest by two student activists of SFT who deployed two banners and displayed the Tibetan national flag for over two and a half hours in front of the Arc de Triomphe were detained by authorities. They were released after ten hours of detention by the French police.
During the detention process, an unidentified man dressed in a black suit was observed interacting with the police. Witnesses reported that the individual appeared to be in communication via phone while also taking photographs of the detained activists. Despite the clearance of all pedestrians from the site, this individual was permitted to remain in the vicinity of the police. SFT addressed the incident on their social media platforms, expressing concern over the peculiar behaviour of the unidentified individual.
In a pre-recorded video shared by SFT, Tsela Zoksang, a female activist currently detained following a peaceful protest, can be seen expressing her motivations for participation in the demonstration, stating, “Under Xi Jinping, the situation inside Tibet has rapidly deteriorated. It is now a crime to be Tibetan inside Tibet. But rather than treating Xi like the Dictator he is, Macron is rolling out the red carpet for him. To avoid complicity in grotesque human rights violations and genocide, Europe MUST reject the normalisation of Xi’s genocidal regime and urge their leaders to call for a FREE TIBET! BHOE GYALO!”
3 Responses
Well said by Gyal Chepa. We will not and never breach any law of the host countries when we go to protest against the CCP but if their agents attack us we should not take that bull shits.
Tibetans in Europe made us proud by confronting Xi in the heart of Paris. Tibetan struggle will continue from generation to generations. Free Tibet.
It is truly heartening to see our young people like Tselha and Nyima leading the charge against the Chinese communist regime who is illegally occupying our country. The students for a FREE TIBET has been doing an excellent job for these many years. They have been aggressive and brazen in their actions such as Tselha hanging herself on electric poles to get maximum exposure of their action and also get highest vantage point of the visiting Chinese leader! Those of us who are watching her are happy for her selfless action but worried that she might meet an accident or that something might go wrong from that height! They are a new breed of young Tibet activists who are getting more assertive than their forerunners. Of course, young people are naturally much more assertive in life because they are confident of their physical strength to meet the challenges. Long time ago, we had Nuba Choedak Gyatso who ran solo protests by screaming from the ceilings of the auditorium where the Chinese leaders were holding meetings or Tenzin Tsondue who drew attention by hanging the Tibetan National Flag on walls of places where the Chinese communist leaders were either camped or having meetings. We have had our heroes at different times and hopefully there will be no dearth of future heroes too. We are armed with truth and the Chinese are using violence and intimidation to muzzle free speech in not only communist China but even in western free democratic countries. They have murdered more than a million and half Tibetans and destroyed more than 6200 sacred temples and monasteries. Tibet was reduced to rubble like Gaza is today! The transnational oppression is rampant because it is desperate to hush up its crimes. The intimidation of the CCP knows no bounds. Recently, while the Taiwanese Vice President elect Hsiao Bi-Khim was visiting the Czech Republic, CCP agents followed her car and ran a red light to cause an accident! Fortunately, Czech officials were up to the task and narrowly avoided a collision. The Czech Republic is considering to brand the CCP official who caused the near accident a persona non grata! Tibetans are a warrior race! We cannot be intimidated. While we remain within the laws of the host country, we must also be fully prepared for any eventuality. The case of Hong Kong activist Bob being dragged into the Chinese consulate in Manchester by his hair and kicked by a pack of communist thugs is an indication of the CCP exporting its brutality into free democratic countries. The British Government took swift action and expelled six Chinese consular officials including consul-General Zheng Xiyuan who were responsible for their violent action. Tibetans should not break the laws of the host country but we have the right to self defence to any thuggish behaviour by the Chinese communist thugs! In a confrontation, we must stand up because we have the truth on our side. The communists Chinese resort to intimidation because they feel guilty of atrocities they have committed in occupied Tibet and are ashamed of themselves when it is exposed infront of the international community! We have nothing to be ashamed of and should be in fact proud of exposing the evil the CCP is to the whole world! It’s also heartening that our young kickboxing champion (Swiss and European champion) Yeshe Shitsetsang in Switzerland and MMA champion Rinchen Griffiths-Golha in Britain both proudly spot our Tibetan national flag during their victory celebrations and shout བོད་རྒྱལ་ལོ་ Rinchen says: “I WANT ALL TIBETANS TO KNOW THAT WE ARE A WARRIOR PEOPLE”! He is right! We are the descendants of Mighty Songtsen Gampo who built an empire that encompasses China’s ancient capital Chang’an known as Xian today to the reaches of river Ganges in the south to River Oxus in the East! It is high time we come out of the cocoon of self-imposed servitude and proclaim our martial heritage since our very survival is at stake!