Brussels, March 11 – Around 300 Tibetans and 50 Belgians from accross Belgium gathered at 2.00 this saturday afternoon in Brussels to commemorate the 47th Tibetan National Uprising Day. The demonstration organised by the Belgian Tibet Support Group “Les Amis du Tibet (Friends of Tibet)” started with a peacefull march from Tramway Museum to Chinese Embassy.
At 2.30, head of the march arrived in front of the Chinese Embassy and then peoples began an human chain between the Embassy and the building of the Chinese Economical Mission for UE (former embassy) which is located 500 meters below on the same street.
Tibetans and their Belgian Friends shouted slogans and holded a lot of Tibetan flags along the street and at 3.30 all the peoples gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy for the end of demonstration concluded by a speach of the Chairman of the Tibetan Community in Belgium and the singing of “Prayer of Truth”, Long Life Prayer for His Holiness and the Tibetan National Anthem.
During the demo, a Chinese people was coming and taking some pictures of participants from the other side of the street but when he was coming to take picture inside the gathering, the police officer banned him to do this. When we talked to this Chinese, he first told us that he is a tourist. As the Chinese Embassy is not a touristic place of Brussels, we asked more questions to this man and he said that he was a reporter but he had not a press card.
So, we talked about this event to the police officer and he said to us that Chinese Embassy is always recording films and pictures on demonstrations in front of their office. He showed to us a window blinded with newspapers, the place of camera.
We would to thank the two mayors for their support and the police for their kind collaboration.
The Belgian French TV reported the demo in the evening news and some radios talked about this day.
