From London to Lhasa

The Tibetan Community and SFT UK staged political theatre as the protests outside Buckingham Palace continued into the night. News even reached the 'The Scotsman'...

Protesters greet Chinese president

Hundreds of Tibetans and human rights activists staged a "die-in" outside Buckingham Palace as Chinese president Hu Jintao arrived for the State Banquet.

Students for a Free Tibet UK (SFTUK) said the protest, organised by SFTUK and Tibetan community members, aimed to highlight the Chinese president's "reign of terror" in Tibet, as London prepares to light monuments red in honour of his visit.

The group said that following the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1950, President Hu was responsible for the brutal imposition of martial law in 1989.

SFTUK's national co-ordinator Alice Speller said: "One in six Tibetans are dead due to the Chinese occupation, and yet the international community is silent in the face of such blatant state terror.

"Tony Blair must speak out about President Hu's actions in Tibet and China's ongoing occupation of that country, or he risks becoming complicit in the atrocities committed there."

Dalha Tsering of the Tibetan community in Britain and co-organiser of the event said: "As Hu Jintao receives the highest state honour in this country, we are staging this street theatre to remind him, and the world, of the death that he authored in my homeland, Tibet.

"Many Tibetans here will never meet family members because he took their lives, and created such fear that many have left for a life in exile.

"Hu still has the blood of my Tibetan countrymen on his hands, and yet world politicians are unwilling to seek justice on our behalf."

Tibetan activist Karma Chura-Tsang said: "As we protest near the monument to the Unknown Soldier, the Tibetan people remain unknown victims of 50 years of Chinese dictatorship.

"This is our symbolic tribute to the all those Tibetans who have died fighting for their freedom."

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