Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, Sept. 23: A 20-year-old Tibetan activist with Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) climbed a light pole near the US Capitol in Washington D.C. and unfurled banners denouncing Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of his arrival in the US capital on September 23-25.
The youth activist, identified as Tenzin Namgyal, carried out the action on September 22, drawing attention to Tibet as Xi prepared for his first visit to Washington in a decade. The banner read, “Dictator Xi, Your Empire Will Fall! Free Tibet.”
Video footage released by SFT International showed the protester scaling a light pole along Pennsylvania Avenue NW, several blocks from the US Capitol. Police and emergency crews temporarily closed the roadway in both directions as authorities responded to the demonstration. After the activist descended, a fire department ladder truck was used to remove the banner from the pole. The youth activist was subsequently taken into police custody, according to SFT.
Following his release, Namgyal said the action was carried out in memory of the late Tibetan independence activist Lobga Rangzen, who died after self-immolating outside the United Nations headquarters in New York on July 2. Namgyal said he first encountered the late martyr as a child during a protest and later drew inspiration from his activism and commitment to the Tibetan cause.
In remarks released following the action, Namgyal also linked his protest to China’s policies of cultural assimilation and environmental exploitation in occupied Tibet. He raised concerns over restrictions affecting Tibetan language, religion and cultural identity, as well as dam construction, mining and other projects under the pretext of “development” on the Tibetan Plateau.
The protest comes amid heightened Tibetan mobilisation surrounding Xi’s visit to Washington. Tibetan activists and supporters are expected to gather in the US capital as the visit gets underway, voicing opposition to Beijing’s policies in Tibet, East Turkestan (Xinjiang) and Hong Kong, as well as raising broader concerns over alleged human rights violations.
Meanwhile, during a press conference in Dharamshala on Wednesday, a journalist asked Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) President Penpa Tsering about Xi Jinping’s scheduled visit to the United States. Responding to the question, President Tsering said, “We are watching every step the Chinese government is taking.” His remarks came ahead of Xi’s scheduled September 23 arrival in Washington for a three-day state visit to the United States at the invitation of US President Donald Trump.
Xi’s three-day state visit to the United States comes as Washington and Beijing seek to manage tensions in their increasingly consequential bilateral relationship. The visit, Xi’s first to Washington in more than a decade, follows his meeting with US President Donald Trump in Beijing in May and is intended to sustain high-level dialogue on trade, economic ties, and wider global issues. China has said the two leaders will discuss China-US relations and international issues concerning peace and development.
At their White House meeting, trade is expected to feature prominently, including tariffs, agricultural purchases and non-tariff barriers, alongside negotiations over critical minerals and rare-earth supplies. The leaders are also expected to address artificial intelligence, Taiwan and the conflicts in Iran and Ukraine, although the precise scope of the discussions remains subject to negotiations. Reports suggest Taiwan remains a particularly sensitive issue for Beijing, while Washington and its allies have expressed concerns over the security implications of China’s growing role in critical technologies and mineral supply chains.
