A group of pro-Tibetan activists who were peacefully demonstrating against Chinese dictator Xi Jinping when he arrived in Washington, DC, on Thursday were attacked by pro-communist protesters.
Protest organizers said they expected over 2,000 Tibetans living in North America to participate, along with Uyghurs and Southern Mongolians who have been oppressed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Hong Kongers who lost their freedoms under China’s authoritarian laws, Taiwanese worried about PRC subversion and invasion, and Chinese pro-democracy activists.
Scheduled events included a march through Washington, demonstrations at the Chinese embassy, a rally near Capitol Hill, and a candlelight vigil in Franklin Park.
Some of the protesters urged President Donald Trump to bring up China’s human rights violations during their meeting and press Xi for better treatment of groups like the Uyghurs and Tibetans.
Others angrily called on Xi to resign. Some of the protesters mocked Xi by dressing in Winnie-the-Pooh costumes – a reminder that the thin-skinned dictator long ago banned Pooh after critics compared his physique to that of the rotund, honey-obsessed bear.
The confrontation with pro-Communist agitators occurred when the demonstrators were lined up along a bridge to wave flags and banners while Xi’s motorcade passed beneath them. The counter-demonstrators attempted to steal flags, smash banners, and drown out the anti-Xi protesters by yelling over them.
The Straits Times noted a substantial number of Chinese nationals living in the United States had traveled to Washington for Xi’s visit, so competing displays of support and criticism were perhaps inevitable.
“I have an American green card now, but I’m Chinese, so, of course, I’m very excited to see Xi Da Da,” one of the pro-Xi visitors to Washington told the Straits Times. “Xi Da Da” means “Daddy Xi.”
Security officials across the free world are increasingly concerned about China’s vast system of transnational repression, which has numerous methods for intimidating Chinese emigrants into silence. The most crude of those methods involves sending gangs of thugs to harass protesters who dare to speak out against Xi and the abuses of his regime.