Special report:   2008 Olympic Games

Special report: Tibet: Its Past and Present    

    BEIJING, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Demonstrations against "Tibet independence" continued in several Chinese cities on Sunday.

College students display a banner reading "Oppose 'Tibet Independence'" during a peaceful demonstration at the Nanya Square in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, on April 20, 2008. Chinese demonstrators on Sunday took to the streets in cities including Haikou, Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province, and Dalian, a coastal city in northeast China's Liaoning Province, to oppose "Tibet independence" and express support for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. (Xinhua/Zhou Zhengping) Photo Gallery>>>

    Demonstrators took to the streets in the northwestern city of Xi'an, eastern Jinan, and central city Wuhan, and the northeastern cities of Harbin and Dalian.

    The rallies followed Saturday's demonstrations in Beijing, Xi'an, the eastern cities of Hefei and Qingdao, Wuhan, and the southwestern city of Kunming.

    They mainly gathered in front of the outlets of French supermarket chain Carrefour, chanting "Oppose Tibet independence", and "Oppose CNN's anti-China statements" on Sunday morning.

    Police were monitoring the demonstrations, which did not affectthe supermarkets' normal operation.

    More than 1,000 students and citizens in front of the Carrefourin Xi'an held banners, saying "Strongly oppose CNN's anti-China statements" and "Condemn Tibet secessionist in France tearing up the Five-Star Red Flag".

    They chanted "Support the Olympics", "Go China" and "Condemn CNN" through loudspeakers.

    About 50 of the demonstrators wore the same kind of red T-shirts. Passers-by joined them in chanting slogans.

    Carrefour has been accused by Chinese Internet users of supporting the Dalai Lama group, which Carrefour China denied in a statement released on Wednesday.

    "Today's activity is simply an awareness-raising activity, aimed at finding a way out for the patriotic emotions of our students," said Wu Sheng, Xi'an resident and one of the organizers.

    "We do not support a boycott of French companies because the economy is globalizing. We choose Carrefour front doors because we draw more attention there," Wu said.

[1] [2] [3] [4]