Tibet will be Free’ says a banner welcoming Xi to US/ENG

2012. február 14./Phayul.com/TibetPress

DHARAMSHALA, February 14: As Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping landed in the U.S. Monday for a trip that includes meeting with President Obama, Tibetans and supporters unfurled a huge banner, sending a “defiant message of freedom” to the fifth generation of Chinese leaders stating “Xi Jinping: Tibet Will be Free.”

Elsewhere in the capital, Tibetans descended upon the White House to protest China's repressive policies in Tibet which have led to the self-immolation of 24 Tibetans and a string of ongoing mass protests.

The 52′ x 20′ foot free Tibet banner was rappelled over the edge of the landmark Arlington Memorial Bridge in the capital welcoming China’s heir apparent, Xi.

Two Tibet activists - Bianca Bockman and Tenzin Jigme who unfurled the banner were later arrested along with two other activists; Matthew Zaccarino and Tenzin Yangsel. The four activists were later released.

“As a Tibetan-American born in Tibet, I have to speak out at this critical moment when Xi Jinping and the Chinese government have literally declared war against my people and are shooting peaceful protesters in the streets of Tibet,” said Tenzin Jigme, of the International Tibet Network. “Xi Jinping has come here seeking American friendship and approval, and President Obama, as the leader of the greatest democracy in the world, has the power to influence Xi and stop this bloody crackdown.”

Xi began his much-anticipated tour of the US with the news of yet another Tibetan torching himself potesting against the Chinese government. The 19-year old monk Losang Gyatso’s self-immolation came just as Tenzin Choedron, an 18-year old nun passed away after she set herself on fire Saturday demanding the return of the Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile.

On the eve of the Valentine date between President Obama and Xi in the White House, hundreds of Tibetans and Tibetan supporters carried out a peace march from the Chinese Embassy to the White House, urging the US to put pressure on China to end the ongoing climate of violence in Tibet.

"I believe that all Americans would want to see freedom and independence for Tibetans in Tibet, for Syrians in Syria," said Tenzin Yangsel, of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress of New York and New Jersey while calling Xi “a representative of a murderous authoritarian dictatorship.”

Student’s for a Free Tibet, in a release said that a joint rally in support of freedom and democracy will be held outside the White House later today by a coalition of Tibetan, Chinese, Uyghur, Taiwanese and human rights groups as Xi Jinping and President Obama meet.

A series of demonstrations on Wednesday, including protest marches, solidarity rallies and candle light vigils await Xi in Iowa on his second leg of the tour.

Talking to reporters, a senior official in the Obama administration last week said the US government will be raising the issue of Tibet during Xi's visit.

“It is an area of grave concern for us to witness the increase of tensions in Tibet and Xinjiang. We are watching this, tracking very closely, with real concern,” Daniel Russel, Special Assistant to President Obama had said.