Official ‘disappointed’ that police didn’t remove demonstrators; says breaking law ‘is to be punished’
By Brendan Kennedy
August 7 – Pro-Tibet demonstrators wrapped up a 90-minute demonstration in front of the Chinese Embassy peacefully yesterday morning, but not quickly enough for embassy representatives.
Five members of Students for a Free Tibet who chained themselves to the embassy’s front gates, and two others who scaled nearby lampposts to unfurl Tibetan flags and pro-Tibet posters, ended their demonstration at the request of police at about 10:30.
The demonstration wasn’t stopped soon enough, according to representatives of the embassy, who said they were “very disappointed” that police and RCMP officers did not immediately remove the demonstrators, who were protesting human rights abuses perpetrated by China against Tibet, two days before the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Beijing.
About a half-hour after the demonstrators chained themselves to the front gate, Huang Hui Kang, the embassy’s deputy chief, made a statement to media saying that the demonstrators were violating international laws by protesting on the embassy’s property.
“We demand that they be removed immediately,” he said, later adding that the police should use force if necessary. “The violation of law is to be punished. Order should be maintained.”
Other embassy employees argued briefly with police, accusing them of being too soft on the demonstrators.
Police arrived shortly after the demonstration began and were followed by the RCMP’s demonstrations unit. Neither attempted to remove the demonstrators, but they did cordon off the area around the embassy’s gates with caution tape.
At around 9:15 a.m., RCMP officers informed the protesters that if they did not move, they could be arrested for obstruction and trespassing. The protesters acknowledged that they understood, but remained silent and did not move.
Just before 10 a.m., the two women who had scaled the lampposts, Chinese-Canadian Queenly Nga Yiu Lee, a 25-year-old from Vancouver, and Tibetan-Canadian Bhutila Karpoche, a 24-year-old from Toronto, began their descent. When they reached the ground, they were briefly questioned by police before being released. Later, after brief negotiations with police, the demonstrators chained to the fence unlocked themselves. They were also questioned before being released.
The demonstrators who chained themselves to the gates are Urgyen Badheytsang, 22, from Toronto; Tashi Gendun, 22, from Montreal; Sonam Gendun, 26, from Montreal; and Ugyen Sangyel, 18, from Toronto.
None of the demonstrators was handcuffed or taken into custody. In the end, no charges were laid and all of the demonstrators were released after being warned not to get into trouble around the embassy again or they could be charged with trespassing.
RCMP Cpl. J.J. Hainey said charges could be laid later.
“The important thing to remember here is that we were able to obtain full co-operation of the protesters and we reached a peaceful conclusion,” he said
Tsering Lama, national director for Students For a Free Tibet, said the demonstration was a success: “This is our way of inserting the message into people’s consciousness before the Chinese government’s propaganda takes over.”
Ms. Lama, whose parents fled Tibet for Canada, said she and her fellow members would love to be able to demonstrate in China or Tibet, but the political climate would not permit it.
“Had the Chinese government gotten their way, these people would be in prison for 20 years,” she said, motioning toward the demonstrators. “I hope these people at the embassy, as angry as they are, I hope they learn a lesson that at least in Canada, this is allowed and should be allowed in China and in Tibet.”
Yesterday’s demonstration in Ottawa wasn’t the only one by members of Students for a Free Tibet.
In Vancouver, members of the group parked a replica tank in front of the Chinese consulate-general, blocking the front entrance.
And early yesterday morning in Beijing, four members of the group managed to scale a light standard near the National Stadium — nicknamed the Bird’s Nest, where the opening Olympic ceremonies are to be held — and were able to string up a banner proclaiming “One World, One Dream, Free Tibet,” the same message that Ottawa’s demonstrators flew. It stayed aloft for nearly an hour before it was noticed. Police were called and three Britons and an American were taken away.
With the Olympic Games set to begin tomorrow, the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa has become a flashpoint for human rights demonstrations of all kinds.
After the Ottawa protest, around noon, Amnesty International delivered mailbags full of 65,000 petitions in support of several different political prisoners imprisoned in China. The move was part of the organization’s “Keep the Promise” campaign, which refers to the fact that China was granted the Olympic Games on the condition that its human rights record would improve.
John Tackaberry, Amnesty’s spokesman, said no one from the embassy responded when they rang the bell, but the group is planning to courier the petitions to the embassy today.
In addition, a coalition of human rights groups from Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal is to gather outside the embassy today at noon for a rally dubbed “The Human Dignity Event,” which aims to draw attention to what organizers say is China’s failure to meet human rights commitments it made during the Olympic bidding process.
The Citizen was unable to contact anyone at the Chinese Embassy for comment.
