International Reaction To 2008 Tibetan Unrest - International Protests - Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific

On Saturday, March 15 in Sydney, Australia, during a chaotic clash with Tibetan protesters outside the Chinese consulate, the police used capsicum sprays and batons in an attempt to control a group of about 40 agitated Tibetan protesters. Several of the protesters entered and then exited the consulate, and thereupon the protesters attacked a plain clothes Australian police officer. Seven protesters in total were arrested. On March 18, police again had to restrain protesters outside the Chinese consulate in Sydney.

Tibetans living in the Indian state of Meghalaya closed their businesses and staged demonstrations to protest the Chinese crack down in Tibet. Hundreds of Tibetan exiles in India marched from the town of Dharamsala to the Indo-Chinese border, to mark their protest against Chinese occupation of Tibet. Indian authorities arrested more than 100 Tibetan protesters. Indian police also arrested a dozen Tibetan exiles attempting to storm the Chinese embassy in New Delhi.

In Tokyo, Japan, over 100 Tibetans living in Japan and members of a Japanese group supporting Tibetans in exile marched in Tokyo's Yoyogi Park, shouting slogans of protest against China on 16 March. It was originally planned as a part of the torch relay for Tibetan Olympics 2008. On March 22, 2008 over 900 Tibetan exiles and Japanese supporters protested in Roppongi, Tokyo. Zenkō-ji, a Japanese Buddhist temple that was originally scheduled to be the starting point for the Beijing Olympic torch relay in Nagano, withdrew from a plan to host the relay, citing safety concerns over the torch relay and by solidarity of monks with the Tibetan buddhists. The temple was then vandalised.

44 Tibetan exiles were arrested by Nepali police in Kathmandu on Monday. Police used bamboo batons and tear gas to break up protests outside a UN complex in the latest crackdown on demonstrations by ethnic Tibetans in Nepal. The protesters insisted they were protesting peacefully.

In Insadong of Seoul, South Korea, several citizens gathered for protesting against the Chinese government. Many of them were from one group in particular, called "Tibet's Friends"(티베트의 친구들)

On April 13, Chinese-Australian demonstrators took to the streets in Sydney, Australia and protested against bias in Western media reporting in relation to the Tibetan issue and the 2008 torch relay. They also voiced their objection to Tibetan independence and their support for the 2008 Summer Olympics. The New South Wales police estimated that around 6,000 people attended the protest. News outlets in China reported about 5,000–6,000 participants. English-language media outlets in Australia downplayed the event, major newspapers such as The Sydney Morning Herald and Daily Telegraph of the following day made no mentions of the event despite both containing articles on the Tibetan unrests, while television broadcasts reported only the Sydney protest (failing to mention the march in Melbourne) and significantly fewer participants: about 1000 according to Australian state-owned broadcaster, the ABC or only "several hundred" according to Channel Nine; Channel Nine also stated that the demonstration was concerned only about disruptions to the Olympic torch relay, rather than the primary stated target of media bias in the portrayal of the entire Tibet-related episode. On the same day, around 5000 Chinese students and Chinese-Australians participated in a similar march in Melbourne.