Xi Jinping In Los Angeles: 'Free Tibet' Protestors Greet Future Chinese President (PHOTOS)

The U.S.'s conflict between wanting jobs and prosperity from China and not wanting to condone the country's human rights violations shone brightly in Los Angeles Thursday, the last stop of Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping's five-day visit to the U.S.

Xi said Thursday, "A prosperous and stable China will not be a threat to any country. It will only be a positive force for world peace and development."

Meanwhile, demonstrators protested his visit to the city, carrying signs that read, "China free the prisoners now," "China use dialogue not guns" and "Stop the genocide in Tibet." Activists also demonstrated at the vice president's first two U.S. stops, Washington D.C. and Iowa, earlier this week.

Even so, it was clear that politicians in Los Angeles, which has greatly benefited from trade and jobs due to its Pacific Rim position, were eager to form a relationship with the man who is expected to become president of China next year. Vice President Joe Biden, Gov. Jerry Brown and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa each courted Xi during his Los Angeles visit.

Vice President Biden announced plans to open a new trade and investment office in China, and Xi visited the port of Los Angeles, which receives nearly 60 percent of its imports from China. The Chinese Vice President said that Chinese imports have improved the American standard of living and created more than 3 million new American jobs from 2001 to 2010, the Associated Press reports.

Xi and Biden also visited a Los Angeles school that specializes in Asian studies, which Biden lauded as in line with the White House's effort to have at least 100,000 American students study in China.

The visit coincides with Human Rights Watch posting Thursday that several hundred Tibetans may have been arrested after returning from studies with the Dalai Lama in India. Sources say the arrestees are being forced to attend patriotic, political re-education classes.

Xi's visit also comes just two days after a 19-year-old Tibetan set fire to himself in defiance of Chinese oppression. Eleven Tibetans did the same in January 2012 and twenty-four total have set fire to themselves since 2009, according to The Tibet Post.

Although the Obama administration made clear its desire for China to relax its tyranny over Tibet, protestors say it's not enough.

As one protestor in Iowa said this week, "The values Americans cherish most - human rights, democracy, and freedom are not just a ‘federal government responsibility' but the moral and civic responsibility of every elected official."

PHOTOS: Demonstrators protest Xi's visit to Los Angeles Thursday:

Comments

[LightBeam]

10:41 PM on 02/18/2012

Fascinating to see those who avoid debating the validity of specific arguments, facts and photos illuminating the brutality perpetrated on Tibetans by the Chinese government/military.

Instead we see they make great efforts to cloud the issue with myriad points unrelated to the specific humanitarian issues brought to light.

[HanMeiRen]

11:16 PM on 02/18/2012

"Over the course of our brief visit to Tibet and Tibetan regions of western China, staff found that the situation defies simple explanation.  Rapid economic development has produced real improvements in the quality of life, lifting hundreds of thousands of Tibetans out of poverty and bringing new opportunities to most of the residents of the rooftop of the world.  Infrastructure improvements not only serve Chinese national security needs, but also allow goods to travel to market, students to reach schools, and doctors to treat the sick.  Hydro and solar power plants are electrifying the Tibetan plateau, giving humble yak herders access to satellite television and cell phones with digital cameras.  Tibetans are living longer, healthier, and more productive lives.  As Tibet is integrated into modern China, Tibetans are enjoying new opportunities in China and even abroad, and many are seizing them.  "

http://foreign.senate.gov/download/?id=E3A86CB6-499B-4228-9F2F-2B046E0ADE83

[LightBeam]

11:57 PM on 02/18/2012

^Proves my point exactly.

[A Tibetan]

07:57 PM on 03/25/2012

on the expense of

“Cultural genocide through various means, by marginalizing us, by re-education program, curricula taught in Chinese language and no emphasis on Tibetan language. Lhakar movement started inside Tibet to counter the results of such policy, by taking pledges to speak Tibetan, dress Tibetan, write Tibetan, and preserve our culture and tradition. The campaign has grown huge in the diaspora community in exile and has inspired us to remember those who are inside Tibet, oppressed yet they are defiant and brave. Bhoe Gyalo.

To know more about Lhakar movement visit @ http://lhakar.org/

http://tibettruth.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/git.pdf

http://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/138/

http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=30360&t=1

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2008-03-16/news/17894862_1_dalai-lama-tibetan-center-cultural-genocide”

[LightBeam]

11:02 AM on 02/18/2012

For those still unclear on what this situation is about:
http://tibettruth.com/
http://tibettruth.com/what-is-tibets-cause-about/

Naturally, the Chinese Communist Party has it's own version of what's going on. You can find their points of view in any media source controlled by them. But if you're inside China, you won't find the same search engine results as you would everywhere else if you type in: chinese military execution tibet

[kwyang]

02:55 PM on 02/18/2012

Believe everything you hear on the Internet, folks! Especially if it has "truth" in the website name. That's how you know they're telling the truth! You know, like www.alienthetruth.com or www.911sharethetruth.com. Totally reputable. Can we get a Sarah Palin quote about the "lamestream media" with all their verifiable sources and annoying facts? Let's just go with our gut. China sure feels evil, what with their different culture and all. It's full of Asians! They don't even have the decency to speak proper English. What's up with that? Can't trust them. We should all listen to Richard Gere instead. Wasn't he dreamy in Pretty Woman? Wait, what? Gerbils? Oh my...you didn't hear it from a website or something did you? Well then it must be true. Nevermind. Forget the Tibetans. Hey did you see Jersey Shore last night?

[Nyingje]

08:37 PM on 02/18/2012

Was there a point hidden somewhere in your rambling, stream-of-consciousness, verbal outburst?

[HanMeiRen]

10:33 PM on 02/18/2012

Once upon a time, there was a boy, a wolf and a village….

[morris111]

11:14 PM on 02/18/2012

I thought that was the global warming fable....

[Coasterr]

12:45 AM on 02/18/2012

What are the Chinese doing to the Tibetens that is so bad? Why does China have such a large interest in that area? What do the Tibetens have that the Chinese want?

[kwyang]

01:06 AM on 02/18/2012

You could say the same about Arizona. Countries aren't in the habit of giving up their territory.

[Coasterr]

11:03 AM on 02/18/2012

So they kill them?

[Ganji]

04:58 AM on 02/18/2012

I guess the same reason the Union wouldn't allow the southern states to self govern

[Nyingje]

08:43 PM on 02/18/2012

That analogy would be apt if the Southern states were inhabited by a people of a totally distinct nationality from the North, who spoke a different language, had different religious customs, and if the war were fought not over slavery, but were a hostile neighbor's thinly disguised colonial land grab covered over with a weak veneer of triumphalist propaganda about "liberation."

[Coasterr]

12:43 AM on 02/18/2012

"Sources say the arrestees are being forced to attend patriotic, political re-education classes."

Doesn't sound like that big of a deal. If the arrestees have strong convictions then all the Chinese can do is make them late for dinner.

[Pema]

12:37 PM on 02/18/2012

they have murdered over 1 million tibetans. this isnt a joke.

[Coasterr]

01:35 PM on 02/18/2012

I wonder why the article left out that information.

[HanMeiRen]

05:37 PM on 02/18/2012

Still spreading lies?

"...the Free Tibet Campaign in London (of which I am a former director) and other groups have long claimed that 1.2 million Tibetans have been killed by the Chinese since they invaded in 1950. However, after scouring the archives in Dharamsala while researchin­g my book on Tibet, I found that there was no evidence to support that figure.. "

http://www­.nytimes.c­om/2008/03­/22/opinio­n/22french­.html

[Newthron]

11:48 PM on 02/17/2012

The world is massively complicit, and disturbingly silent om this ongoing shame, to preserve its juicy economical and financial interests. Our economy is more important than the wellbeing of these...who? Ho them!

[Coasterr]

12:43 AM on 02/18/2012

What are we going to do tank our economy in protest of China arresting a few dissidents?

[kwyang]

01:07 AM on 02/18/2012

A lot more than that, we're not going to get anything done about Syria, Iran, or North Korea without active Chinese cooperation. And they're not going to cooperate while we're actively trying to strip them of a province, are they?

[kwyang]

11:46 PM on 02/17/2012

Tibet is not a priority because there are no American interests involved in something that's an internal matter for China. For years it was a useful chip to pressure and embarrass China diplomatically, but nobody thinks Tibet has a legitimate claim to independence, nor does any government support that position. It really doesn't make any sense for America to pressure China now when we need their cooperation on everything from Syria, Iran, Europe, debt, currency manipulation, North Korea, anti-terrorism, etc. Countries don't have values or friends, they have interests. It's in America's best interests to work with China, not work against it.

[Pema]

12:40 PM on 02/18/2012

yes, let lose our moral compass for money which is exactly what the "arab spring" is about. getting control of oil. the west started this. and you are incorrect when you say no one thinks tibet has a claim. go back to the prc and tell them you failed.

[kwyang]

02:47 PM on 02/18/2012

Oh the same moral compass that led us to invade Iraq, run Abu Ghraib, keep Guantanamo open, torture detainees, conduct extraordinary rendition, authorize warrantless wiretapping, massacre Afghan civilians and collect their body parts, blow up Pakistani weddings with Predator drones, assassinate American citizens overseas without trial, etc.? That's just within the last 10 years. Under both a Republican and a Democratic President. Please, help me out here, point out our moral compass? It seems to be a bit lost as is.

Maybe you should get off your high horse and start living in the real world. Countries kill for their interests. Their interests include economic interests. End of story. Part of the human condition. Feel free to come back and list countries that support Tibet's claim to independence, by the way, when the Dalai Lama himself doesn't even believe it has merit anymore.

[malcolmjackson]

11:26 PM on 02/17/2012

Re: your headline "Are Politicians Disregarding Crimes Against Tibet?"

Huffington Post, why are you posing this fact as a question? In doing so you're pandering to the powers you pretend to ask questions of and letting them off the hook rather than doing your job as the 4th pillar of democracy. This issue needs powerful, hard hitting reporting, not the same old tired powderpuff pieces such as the above. It's one of the great human rights tragedies, spanning the last 60 years or more.

Tibet is one of the keepers of earths store of great wisdom. For our entire species her jewels are precious beyond compare. We neglect to take care of her & protect her people & knowledge at our great peril.

[smartdog]

10:13 PM on 02/17/2012

according to my inside sources in tibet, what the chinese are doing to the tibetans TODAY is child's play compared to the horror in syria. the difference is that tibetans have no guns. but once the dalai lama passes the lid will come off and the way of peace and non-violence will not prevail. thus, china is worried about an arab spring in their back yard and are conducting genocide on the tibetans. the chinese are reptiles. period.

[HanMeiRen]

08:49 AM on 02/19/2012

You have a inside source? When will the next self-immolation materialize?

You do not need to hide behind the Tibetan Independence cause to outlet you hatred towards the Chinese as a people.

1 is one and racial hatred is racial hatred.

[Syllogizer]

09:42 PM on 02/17/2012

Why do people have such a hard time understanding it? China is a dictatorship. In some ways and in some parts of China, a very bloody one, despite the economic liberalization that has taken place.

Now once this is understood, the way we approach the headline question is different: of course China is committing human rights abuses. But since they are a dictatorship, there are sharp limits to what we can do about them. The limits are worse if we fool ourselves by greedily lusting after business in China, as so many have done.

Now as for Tibet, unfortunately, the majority of informed opinion in issues of international law agree: Tibet is now legally part of China.

That is unfortunate, but we cannot help the suffering Tibetans by ignoring it. Even the Dalai Lama has made his peace with that fact, asking only for increased autonomy rather than outright independence.

The article would have done HuffPost readers a far greater service if it had covered why China refuses to grant even that autonomy. But did HuffPost do this? N-o-o-o-o.

That said, Chinese leaders should visit the US more often and see the protesters, since they cannot protest freely in China.

[ligligl]

09:30 PM on 02/17/2012

We are NOT ignoring Tibet, we just know they have no oil...

[corwin]

10:46 PM on 02/17/2012

Right! If Tibet had oil gas prices in LA won't be over $5 /gallon this summer

[vkmo]

11:48 PM on 02/17/2012

Tibet doesn't have oil, but it has gold. Thanks to Tibet's strong contribution, communist red china has become world's largest gold producer exceeding South Africa. Workers brought in from different parts of china are engaged in mining of gold and other minerals, extracting timber and diverting Tibetan rivers. Tibetans have no say in what's done in their country and in the import of workers from different parts of china. These workers exceed the population of Tibetans.

[Coasterr]

12:46 AM on 02/18/2012

Theres thousands of workers taking oil from my land and I'm not benefiting from it either but you don't see me complaining.

[LightBeam]

09:26 PM on 02/17/2012

Soon more and more people will see the haunting photos of Chinese military executions of Tibetans (I'll spare the grotesque details). And soon the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Tibet as well as in the executive board rooms of unscrupulous businesses worldwide will be far too difficult to ignore.

[smartdog]

10:15 PM on 02/17/2012

and girls raped by the military in front of their families.

[LightBeam]

10:32 PM on 02/17/2012

and the use of cattle prods to sterilize the women. It's all going to be more widely revealed. And people, the wives, daughters and other family members of the corporate execs/board members/share holders will come to realize the true cost of doing business with cheap labor dictatorships.

[kwyang]

02:48 PM on 02/18/2012

Great, more "Iraqi troops throwing babies out of incubators" type stories. That'll really advance the conversation.

[Nyingje]

10:25 PM on 02/18/2012

I'm confused. Are you saying that there are no "Chinese military executions of Tibetans," or that the political executions and oppression of Tibetans are somehow irrelevant to the discussion of, um, Tibet?

[A Tibetan]

08:15 PM on 03/25/2012

http://tibettruth.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/git.pdf

[Rubyfoo]

08:32 PM on 02/17/2012

As the old, cynical saying goes, "They may be b-----ds, but their our b-----ds."

[vkmo]

07:44 PM on 02/17/2012

Kathleen, Dalai Lama's home is in India and has been for over 53 years since he left Tibet. Buddhism began in India and still lives although its numbers are small now. India supports Tibetans quietly. Overt, widely reported demonstrations worry them because of the HUGE communist red china's nuke supplies immediately north of India's border and the prospect of a nuke (or even conventional) conflict.

[Syllogizer]

09:45 PM on 02/17/2012

Nuke conflict! What makes you think China would go to nuclear war with India over Tibet? You are really stretching it. India has no need to fear nuke conflict with China over anything. Not until AGW makes further progress drying out the biosphere and they start fighting over fresh water available in the HImalayas.

[A Tibetan]

08:25 PM on 03/25/2012

Well, India and China are in lot of border disputes. What she is saying is not at all a stretch.

To list few bigger issues...

1) China's claim of Anurachal Pradesh ( an Indian state), but China is claiming it is China's territory based on the the fact that there are native Tibetans living there and since Tibet is part of China, thus Anurachal Pradesh is as well.

2) The same argument is played regarding the state of sikkim.
( http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jun/04indchina.htm)

3) Water dispute, building of water dam blocking Brahmaputra river - longest river in India that sustains millions of lives.

4) China aiding Pakistan financially and militarily. China doesn't recognize Kashmir to be part of India..creating even greater rift.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/long-range-missiles-in-tibet-a-threat-dhumal-to-pm/928251/

http://www.forbes.com/2010/10/20/india-china-foreign-policy-markets-economy-raghav-bahl-book-excerpt.html