Five Americans Detained For Pro-Tibet Olympic Protest

ANCHOR:
Five U.S. citizens are in Chinese custody in Beijing.

The Americans, several of whom are students, were detained by police for displaying an innovative protest banner on Beijing's Olympic Green at around midnight Wednesday.

The banner, which read "Free Tibet," was made of "throwies," which are small LED lights powered by tiny batteries.

The "throwies" inventor, U.S. activist James Powderly, has also been detained in China since Tuesday for planning a larger-scale protest using handheld lasers to show pro-Tibet messages on buildings in Beijing.

The five Americans are members of Students for a Free Tibet, an international pro-Tibet activist group. According to the group, the Americans were able to display their banner for about 20 seconds before they were detained.

Their current whereabouts are unknown. In the last two weeks, Students for a Free Tibet have staged seven protests and have had 37 members detained and deported before today's event.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• ntd
• olympic
• protest
• beijng
• arrest
• human
• rights
• abuse
• tibet
• students

[hisphoninesss]

Before sweeping democratic reform was launched by the central government in 1959, Tibetan people had suffered under a system of feudal serfdom at the hands of religious-political rulers. The serf-owner class, consisting of three major estate-holders - local administrative officials, aristocrats and upper-class monastery lamas - exerted extremely brutal political suppression and economic exploitation on the serfs and slaves under dalai rule.

[swordofpakistan]

Free Tibet,Boycott China!

[Americanumber101]

We have better things now to do with our unemployed worthless American lives now . Lets us kill more native Indians and teach them who is the master of their land !I mean our land .sorry .

[Americanumber101]

That how we "Anglo" do it to the native Indians and worst.We fucking stolen their lands and murder those native Muahhahaha FUCK YEAH AMERICA FUCK YEAH!!!

[AngloPhantom]

Why do goody-goodies protest for an independent Tibet? I would love to see better human rights in all of China more.

[stopKillingInTibet]

Today's China is still very much Mao who turned China into hell. Only between 15 to 20% of Chinese population enjoy economic prosperity in China. Rest of the Population is poor and work for rich Chinese or foreign owned companies. Mojority of the Chinese population are kept in dark by their own government. Experts estimate close to hundres million Chinese have lost their life during Mao's rule. Mao has killed more people than anybody else in human history. He is the symbol of evil.

[Joe021970]

Chinese security forces opened fire on a crowd this week in eastern Tibet and killed 140 people, the Dalai Lama told a French daily on Thursday. Chinese army again fired on a crowd "Killed by bullets, even though they were protesting without weapons. Their bodies were never given back to their families.

[yerk3]

johnnyaro: Who'se "trying to be an American super hero?" The prisoners of conscience? Because sacrificing one's own personal safety for a noble cause is surely eeevil.

[johnnyaro]

Ho ho ho, want to be American super hero ?