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A Tibetan student and 30 Filipino supporters staged a
rally outside the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines on Friday to
protest China’s crackdown in Tibet.
The protesters unfurled banners
saying “Free Tibet Now,” “Stop Military Suppression in
Tibet,” and “Respect Human Rights in Tibet” in front of the
embassy in the financial district of Makati City.
Protester Pema-Tetin, who
described himself as a Tibetan student, told Agence France-Presse
they were not advocating separation from China.
“They are trying to speak for
peace in Tibet,” he said.
Pema-Tetin said he knew of 17
Tibetans in the Philippines, all of them students. Most of them are
returning home soon and wanted to keep a low profile, he added.
Police watched the peaceful
protest from a distance but did not interfere. There was no reaction
from the embassy, and people who approached the building said it was
closed.
While street protests are an
almost daily occurrence in the Philippines, the activists usually
target the Philippine government, Western governments or affiliated
institutions.
Unlike other Asian nationalities,
many Filipinos are not familiar with the situation in Tibet, and
very few Tibetans study in the Philippines compared to other
countries such as India, United Kingdom and the United States.
--AFP
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