Protester hides Tibet flag under Canadian one at Olympic event

Saturday, August 9, 2008

CBC News

A student who snuck a Tibetan flag into an Olympic equestrian event by hiding it under a Canadian flag has been removed by officials, according to a report.

Christina Chan was sitting with another protester Friday in the front row of the dressage arena in the Sha Tin district of Hong Kong, according to an article on the BBC's website.

When the two tried to unveil a Tibetan flag they had concealed underneath a Canadian one, they were quickly apprehended by event security officials and covered with a blue cloth.

Chan was then carried out of the venue after she refused to leave. The other protester was also ejected from the event.

"She was sort of disturbing other spectators around her, which is against the house rules," equestrian event spokesman Mark Pinkstone said.

Chinese Olympic officials have said only flags from the 205 competing nations can be displayed during the Games, meaning the Tibetan flag cannot be hoisted during any of the official events.

Chan had previously protested China's treatment of Tibet during the Olympic torch relay in Hong Kong in May, according to the BBC.

At that time, a young woman named Christina Chan and carrying a Tibetan flag was hustled into a police van after a crowd of about 30 people shouted obscenities at her, pushing and shoving police officers who had surrounded the university student to provide protection.

"What right do they have to take me away? I have a right to express my opinion," Chan, 21, said of the police action.

Elsewhere Friday, a British man was taken away by police after unfurling banners that denounced China's human rights record on a major bridge in Hong Kong ahead of the Beijing Olympics' opening ceremony Friday.

Matt Pearce, a longtime Hong Kong resident from Bristol, England, hung two banners on road signs on Hong Kong's Tsing Ma Bridge that said, "We want human rights and democracy" and "The people of China want freedom from oppression."

Officials shut down traffic on the bridge's upper deck where Pearce was protesting.

Protests against China's human rights record and its policy in Tibet have been staged around the globe in the run-up to the Beijing Summer Olympics, which kicked off Friday.

Some have accused China of backsliding on human rights since it was awarded the Games, citing continued repression in Tibet following a violent crackdown on dissents in March.