“Stop the threat against Taiwan, stop the repression in Hong Kong, stop support for Putin, stop interference in France”, could we read on a large banner visible on Place de la République, a traditional place of demonstration in the French capital . “Dictator Xi Jinping, your time is up”, “no to Chinese totalitarianism”, signs also indicated.
“Free Tibet”
Hundreds of protesters flew the Tibetan flag. The crowd, on numerous occasions, chanted “France, country of human rights”, “Long live free Tibet”, or even “Free Tibet”. Xi Jinping “is a dictator” who wants to wipe out Tibetan tradition and culture, Karma Thinlay, president of the Tibetan community in France, told AFP when the Chinese leader had just arrived in Paris on Sunday afternoon. for a two-day visit.
In China, “there is no freedom of expression, there is no freedom,” he lamented. “France is a country of human rights and freedom, this is not compatible with his coming to France.”
“There’s more to life than just the economy”
French President Emmanuel Macron intends to advocate commercial “reciprocity” and the search for a resolution to the war in Ukraine in the face of a Chinese president who continues to show his support for Russia. “Emmanuel Macron must know that with China, we cannot do business calmly, with confidence, because China is a country where all rights are violated,” continued Karma Thinlay.
“There is more to life than just the economy,” he said, hoping that the French president will seize this “opportunity” to talk about the situation in Tibet in order to find “a peaceful solution.”
Over the centuries, Tibet has alternated periods of independence and control by China. Beijing took over the reins, after an intervention by the People’s Liberation Army in October 1950. The Dalai Lama, in exile, has always refused to recognize that Tibet was historically part of China, as requested by Beijing, which has used it to refuse dialogue with its representatives since 2010.
