By Elizabeth Benton,
Register Staff
NEW HAVEN — Moments before Chinese President Hu Jintao’s motorcade pulled onto the Elm City, a man standing at Prospect and Grove streets waved a Chinese flag and played a pop song with the Mandarin lyrics, “We are all one family: China.”
But the man’s enthusiastic attempts to inspire unity among the thousands of demonstrators gathered along the streets of downtown New Haven failed.
As Hu’s motorcade passed the intersection at 11 a.m. on its way to Sprague Hall a block away, a cacophony of supportive cheers and cries of injustice burst through megaphones and loudspeakers.
Flags, both U.S. and Chinese, and banners both friendly and opposed to the Chinese leader, flapped against each other, fighting for space on the crowded streets.
Police, who estimated there were 5,000 to 10,000 demonstrators, reported only one arrest — a man who allegedly threw a water bottle that struck an officer.
Two blocks away, dozens of Tibetan protesters, dressed in yellow, carried a banner reading “one world, one dream, free Tibet.” They lined one side of Temple Street crying out “shame on the Chinese government” and “stop the tyranny.” On the other side, dozens more Chinese men and women in red caps with gold stars lined the sidewalk and stood stoically carrying Chinese flags. Two New Haven police officers on horses positioned themselves in between; other officers in riot gear walked the streets.
On nearly every downtown street, men and women passed out copies of The Epoch Times, a New York-based Falun Gong publication whose reporter was charged with disorderly conduct after disrupting a ceremony at the White House Thursday.
Clare Le of San Francisco had been tracking Hu’s visit, passing out copies of The Epoch Times and drawing attention to what she claims is the “insane persecution of 50 million Chinese people.” She had been to Seattle, Washington D.C., and was in New Haven standing at the corner of Trumbull and Orange streets Friday morning.
“Thousands have been put in concentration camps and had their bodies harvested for profit. It’s time to release all those imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners,” she said.
Le has been a Falun Gong practitioner for 10 years. Falun Gong is a meditation practice, and Le claims her health has improved dramatically since she began following the practice.
But the Chinese government considers the group an “evil cult” and has banned the practice, imprisoning many Falun Gong members.
Le rejects the government’s label, turning the tables on the Chinese Communist Party.
“We practice to be truthful, compassionate, and to put other people’s benefit before ourselves. We never ask for money. What is a cult? Give me the definition of a cult? The Chinese Communist Party is a cult. They destroy Chinese culture, they force people to become atheist. They are the biggest cult in history,” she said.
Yale junior Hao Wang, president of Yale’s Friends of the Falun Gong club, stood at the corner of Grove and Prospect streets. He said Yale students presented a petition containing 2,513 signatures to Yale President Richard C. Levin’s assistant, Nina Glickson, Thursday, asking Levin to ask Hu to open all labor camps to outside inspection.
On the same corner, Yale Forestry School graduate student Jin Long Wang said most people in China recognize Falun Gong is “stupid” and that he believes stories of abuse and persecution are fabricated.
“People abandoned this group in China, but in other countries, people think they are victims and believe their stories. After 10 or 15 years, when China becomes democratic, and everything is released, and people have access to the true stories, people will realize these people are liars,” he said.
A group of student activists reported being removed by New Haven police officers while attempting to chalk anti-Hu messages outside Sprague Hall and on Beinecke Plaza Thursday evening.
According to Yale freshman Charles Alvarez, one student was attempting to chalk “free speech” outside Sprague when he was moved by officers.
Eight students later returned, and were told it was illegal, and that the sidewalks were private property.
Students continued to attempt to chalk messages “free China” and “This is what democracy looks like,” but said they were stopped by officers.
Two students reported being detained and questioned briefly by police at the scene.
