or-politics.com
October 27, 2015
Senior Chinese pro-democracy campaigners are protesting Britain’s treatment of an activist detained during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s pageant-filled visit to Britain.
Officers were filmed arresting Shao Jiang outside Mansion House in central London, on Wednesday before President Xi’s arrival. After his arrest this week, his home was searched by British police, his wife told The Independent, and his computer was confiscated. The activists, named as Sonam Choden, 30, and Jamphel Lhamo, 33, both from London, reportedly attempted to wave Tibetan flags at President Xi’s passing vehicle, before being dragged away by police. “Otherwise [the United Kingdom government] will damage their human rights standards and undermine democracy”, he warned. Now they are a regular fixture on the London Chinese dissident scene, where they had thought that they would be guaranteed freedom of expression and the right to peaceful protest. Tibetan exile groups have also reacted with anger following the arrest of two women shortly after Shao for waving a Tibetan flag near Xi’s auto, and had their homes searched while they were under arrest. Johanna Zhang, who earlier protested with her husband outside Downing Street, said: “When I was told by the police he had been arrested, it was like I was back in China again”. ‘It feels like it was when I was in China, ‘ he said. He added: “Shao Jiang has witnessed a lot in his life”. She said: “In addition to the need to facilitate peaceful protest, there was a need to ensure a tight security operation for not only the Chinese President and First Lady but also our Royal Family and Prime Minister”. The Met said Mr Jiang and the two women were initially arrested to “prevent a breach of the peace”. The arrests come amid accusations the British government and Scotland Yard have kowtowed to Chinese demands for firm action over protesters. All three have been released on police bail. After trying to take pictures she says she was “singled out by three official looking Chinese men, who effectively herded me away from the event, lowered my arm holding the camera“. Commander Lucy D’Orsi said: ‘The assertion that political manipulation of the command team or, indeed, the broader Metropolitan Police took place is wrong and doesn’t reflect the facts’. The officer responsible for policing the visit said she was “disappointed” at claims her force tried to suppress legitimate protest. Other protesters have expressed “shock” at how peaceful demonstrators are being treated by police. Perhaps it is time that we should focus a few of our concentration on our own civil liberties at the same time as we criticize others for their stance on human rights, ” he added. London police said Jiang, a 47-year-old academic and a blogger for human rights group Amnesty worldwide, was arrested on suspicion of “conspiracy to commit threatening behavior”. Campaigners accused the Metropolitan Police of acting disproportionately and suggested Britain was kowtowing to China to secure lucrative trade deals. ‘Like back in China’: Met police arrest, raid home of Tiananmen Square survivor
