By Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, May 11: A protest organised by Students for a Free Tibet (SFT), participated by Tibetans and Hungarian Tibet supporters in Budapest, Hungary, on Thursday took a violent turn as pro-CCP supporters tore down banner belonging to Tibetans and harassed them at the protest site, while Hungarian police breathed down their necks, in what is seen as heavy-handed approach by the local police there.
The protest, initially intended to raise awareness about the human rights situation in Tibet and call for the boycott and removal of Chinese President Xi Jinping who is visiting Hungary, escalated into a confrontation between the pro-Tibet and pro-CCP supporters following the tearing down of a banner belonging to Tibetans by pro-China protestors.
In video footage posted by SFT on their social media handle, pro-China protesters can be seen tearing down a banner displaying messages in support of Tibet. Witnesses reported that they were allegedly subjected to intimidation tactics by the pro-CCP group, while Hungarian authorities reportedly stood in silence at the protest site, failing to adequately protect the protesters from the aggressive actions of the pro-CCP faction.
In a video, a student activist can be seen expressing distress over the situation, “They took our flag. They covered our flag. They got into our space. They are doing what they can do the best. They are coming into our space and now the police are against us. We were here first. This was our banner, where is our banner now? Where is our banner now? Where is our flag now? Our flags were covered from the beginning by these Chinese flags. They are doing what they can do best. They are covering our flags with their own flags.”
It was also reported that Tibetan activists and Hungarian allies were subsequently escorted away from the protest site by the Hungarian police, while Chinese nationals were permitted to remain. In a subsequent update, SFT confirmed that all of the Tibet activists in Budapest are safe.
“Over the past week, we learned that supposedly democratic European governments are willing to disregard the universal right of freedom of speech in order to appease Xi Jinping. Whether it was detaining a Tibetan woman for holding a bag that said “Free Tibet” or removing Hungarian citizens in Budapest from standing on a public walkway to protect a group of ostensibly Chinese foreigners, Europe is at risk of being poisoned by the runoff of increased economic and political ties with the CCP,” SFT stated.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that Chinese President Xi Jinping, who concluded his visit with a final stop in Budapest, Hungary, on May 10, signed 18 agreements concerning cooperation in industries such as railways and electric vehicles, among others.
