President Xi Jinping of China flew home from Manchester on Friday, capping a four-day state visit of pomp and little public criticism of China’s domestic policies.
But as he concluded a successful visit, with Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain praising the opening of what he called a golden era of business and diplomatic relations, Chinese dissidents accused the British police of unnecessary force as officers arrested three prominent demonstrators in London on Wednesday.
One of those arrested, Shao Jiang, 47, an academic and blogger for Amnesty International, is a survivor of the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square. He was arrested on Wednesday for stepping in front of Mr. Xi’s motorcade near a lavish London reception for the Chinese leader
Television footage showed him breaching a security barrier and standing alone in front of the motorcade before several police officers dragged him away. He was wearing the Tibetan flag and had raised two signs, reading “End Autocracy” and “Democracy Now.”
The police then raided his home and seized his computer equipment, according to Wang Dan and Wuer Kaixi, fellow dissidents. His wife, Johanna Zhang, told The Independent newspaper, “The police here in the U.K. are doing the same things as in China.”
Two Tibetan women, Sonam Choden, 30, and Jamphel Lhamo, 33, were also arrested at the same protest as they tried to unfurl Tibetan flags as the motorcade passed.
The London police said that they had detained a man and two women to prevent a breach of the peace and then arrested them on suspicion of “conspiracy to commit threatening behavior.” The three were released on bail.
In a statement, Commander Lucy D’Orsi of the Metropolitan Police rejected criticism and denied that the police “were working to the bidding of the Chinese to suppress protest.” She said that everyone was allowed “this fundamental right to freedom of expression,” but that the police also had “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.”(S
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/24/world/europe/xi-jinpings-britain-visit-ends-amid-criticism-of-arrest-of-dissidents-in-london.html?ref=world&_r=0
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