By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, October 22: The London police on Wednesday arrested two Tibetans for waving the Tibetan national flag at the passing cavalcade of the Chinese President Xi Jinping who is on his maiden state visit to the UK. The police also arrested a Chinese activist, a Tiananmen Square survivor.
The two women, Sonam (30) and Jamphel Lhamo (33), were forcefully suppressed and taken away by the police officers on the security duty for the visiting Chinese president.
Chinese democracy activist and Tiananmen Square survivor Shao Jiang who wore a Tibetan national flag and held two placards that read “Truth for June 4th” and “Massacre on trial” was also arrested. They all were kept in police remand for overnight at the Bishop’s Gate police station.
The police spokesperson confirmed that a man and two women were arrested “to prevent a breach of the peace”, a law, which is used to prevent unlawful violence against people or property and ‘Peace’.
The Spokesperson said, “All three were further arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit threatening behavior. They were taken into custody at a central London police station where they remain at this time.”
Tsering Passang, Chair of the Tibetan Community in Britain said, “As a British Tibetan, I am shocked. Tibetans are being silenced both in their homeland and now in the UK. I demand fair treatment for all protesters who are standing up for human rights and democracy and demand the immediate release of Sonam, Jamphel and Shao Jiang.”
The Tibetan community in the UK is planning to protest outside the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Hyde Park where Xi will be attending a Confucius Institute conference. More protests have been planned in Manchester on October 23, Xi’s last day in the UK.
