The worldwide debate over human rights and the coming Olympics arrived in New Haven, as a pro-China rally and a parade of protesters met in a shouting, flag-saturated, musical confrontation in the middle of the Green.
A coalition including local Tibetans and practitioners of Falun Gong gathered around a temporary stage in the southwest corner of the Green on Saturday afternoon for an event organized by the Global Human Rights Torch Relay, an international campaign against human rights abuses perpetrated by the Chinese government. Speakers and musicians addressed the crowd, many of whom held signs condemning the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The event included a short parade circling through downtown New Haven.
Meanwhile, on the northeast corner of the Green on the permanent stage, a rally organized by the local Chinese population, with matching Beijing Olympics T‑shirts and abundant flags, was voicing its support for China and celebrating the coming Olympic games.
The two groups met as the Human Rights Torch parade, accompanied by a marching band, traveled down Temple Street, through the middle of the Green. The pro-China rally rushed to the edge of the street to chant and wave flags as the Human Rights Torch parade passed by. The two groups were separated by a line of New Haven police and barricades.
The Protest
The Human Rights Torch Relay was organized as a symbolic alternative to the Olympic torch relay now underway. Like the Olympic torch, the Human Rights Torch has been traveling around the world, coordinated with events designed to bring attention to violations of human rights in China. The campaign was started by the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong in China (CIPFG).
Practitioners of Falun Gong, the Chinese spiritual movement (also known as Falun Dafa) that has been outlawed in China, claim that they are the victims of torture and abuse in China. Addressing the crowd on Saturday afternoon, John Jaw of the Falun Dafa Association of New England said that there have been 3,000 documented deaths of Falun Gong practitioners in China but that “we believe the actual number is many times that.” He also said that “there are thousands incarcerated, working 12 to 14 hours a day, making products for the government.”
Dr. Wenyi Wang of Physicians for Human Rights, said that Falun Gong prisoners have been victims of systems of forced organ harvesting for “international transplant tourists,” people who come to China for inexpensive organ transplant operations.
Brandon Wang, of the Boston chapter of CIPFG, wanted to make it clear that their argument is with the CCP, not the people of China. “This is an evil party,” he said.
New Haven downtown Alderwoman Bitsie Clark (pictured above at right), who helped obtain the parade permit for the event, spoke briefly to the crowd. She decried human rights abuses everywhere, including those perpetrated in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib.
Other speakers presented information about the persecution of Christians in China and Chinese support for genocide in Darfur. Local Tibetans (pictured), including Lama Tsondru Sangpo, took the stage to chant Buddhist prayers of compassion.
The Party
While the Tibetans were singing their prayers of peace, the pro-China party on the other side of the Green was enjoying a Wushu (martial arts) display set to the sounds of dramatic recorded music: thundering drums and proud trumpets. The Wushu demonstration was followed by a triumphant soft rock song, with the lyrics “Hand in hand we stand, across the land” as the Chinese ralliers marched around their half of the Green trailing Chinese flags and carrying signs with slogans like “Olympics, Not Olympolitics.”
In a marked contrast with the mixed group of human rights demonstrators, the pro-China rally was composed almost entirely of Chinese people, many with white Beijing Olympics T‑shirts and little Chinese flag stickers on their cheeks. The organizers addressed the crowd in Chinese from the stage.
“We want to show our excitement about the Olympics and send a message of welcome,” said Jie Chen, a Yale grad student in the economics program and the official spokesperson of the rally. When asked if the event was planned in response to the Human Rights Torch Relay, Chen said, “to some extent yes, but we’re not trying to do anything against anybody.”
Chen said that she doesn’t agree with the politics of the protesters. “I think Tibet is part of China. So do most people here,” she said, gesturing around at the hundreds of Chinese people around her. As for the Falun Gong, “they’re not showing the whole picture.” Chen said that there have been media distortions of the Falun Gong situation.
“How Can They Do That?”
At 3 p.m., the Human Rights Torch Relay began a march through downtown. Led by three-torch bearing “goddesses” and accompanied by the Divine Land marching band, the group paraded up Chapel and York and down Elm Street. Adults distributed fliers and children handed out paper flowers.
As they rounded the corner of Elm and Temple, the China rally ran to meet them, waving flags and chanting “China! China!” The human rights parade chanted back, “Shame on the CCP!” and the band belted out a rousing song. Police on foot and on motorcycles kept the groups apart.
Lama Tsondru, toting a large photograph of the Dalai Lama, said later that he spent the parade offering Boddhichitta prayers of compassion. His daughter said that she had been doing the same, until she rounded the corner and saw the pro-China rally. “I got so angry,” she said, “you see that they’re denying everything and eventually I stopped praying and started chanting.” His daughter, a student at Southern Connecticut State, said that she was angry to see students waving Chinese flags. “I’m angry that they know everything that is going on,” she said. “How can they do that?”
As the Human Rights Torch Relay was wrapping up, Suan Kuo, one of the organizers of the event, said that many Chinese student groups in the US have a “direct link to the CCP,” and that “they finance their lifestyle.” He said that nationalist groups act on behalf of the Chinese government. “The CCP is never out in front, they have the students do their dirty work.”
Back on the other side of the Green, the pro-China rally was finishing up as well, with a sing-along of popular Chinese songs, including one called “The Real Hero” and another about the Chinese flag.
Asked whether the rally was funded by the Chinese government, Jie Chen said no, it was a completely volunteer effort. Asked about the organizing body behind the rally, Jie Chen said that the rally was organized by a committee, but that she couldn’t remember its name.
Read about a previous downtown protest involving China and Falun Gong here.