There has been overwhelming support among the Buddhist community in Syracuse of the protests against the visit to Washington, DC by Chinese President Hu Jintao. The tensions over repression of the human rights of Tibetans by the Chinese government has long angered Buddhists here. And so a report in the Tibet Sun about protests of Hu's visit has been welcomed among Buddhists here, "Tibetans, Chinese protest Hu's US visit", http://bit.ly/i4F9mY.
As Chinese President Hu Jintao began a state visit to the United States hundreds of Chinese and Tibetan protesters loudly demonstrated outside the White House. Liu Tongxing, leader of the China Democracy Party commented as activists chanted slogans in Chinese "We are here today to cry out for our human rights." These protesters held up banners which urged President Barack Obama to "admonish Hu" over human rights abuses and the conflict over Tibet when the two leaders meet at the White House.
The Tibetan protesters marched up and down the pavement just outside the White House under an icy rain as they waved placards reading: "Tibet will be free" and called on Obama to raise the issue with Hu. The two leaders had plans to hold talks in the Oval Office on Wednesday. Meanwhile Tenzin Dorjee, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, commented "The activities of the Chinese government, the economic exploitation in Tibet and the resulting environmental devastation of Tibet have consequences beyond Tibet's borders." He than accused China of damming rivers in Tibet that irrigate much of Asia, stripping the region of its mineral riches and killing off the nomadic and religious way of life on the remote plateau.
Human Rights Watch (HRW), which is based in the United States, recently released a poor assessment of China's human rights record and dismissed a plan presented by Beijing two years ago to address such issues. HRW's Asia advocacy director Sophie Richardson said the Chinese government still "tramples on many of the most basic rights." And as she urged Obama and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to raise the sensitive issue with Hu she blasted a 2009 statement by Clinton that rights concerns would not interfere with US-China cooperation.
The spirit of these protests against the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to Washington, DC has been infectious here among the Buddhist community. Buddhists here will be praying and working hard for affirmative human rights policy changes by China.
Mandel News Service: http://www.mandelnews.com
