In the midst of widespread revolt against Chinese rule in Tibet, UW-Madison’s students joined hundreds of demonstrators from Madison, Minnesota and Chicago to protest the visit of the Chinese vice president in Iowa Wednesday. This is the last of a three-part series exploring the issue.
DES MOINES, Iowa--A Wednesday morning rally and afternoon march led to passionate tears on the faces of some of the ‘Free Tibet’ supporters from around the Midwest who traveled to Des Moines, Iowa, to protest visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping.
The approximately 500 protesters, inspired by the 24 people who set themselves on fire in the past two years to protest the Chinese government’s alleged human rights violations in Tibet, included UW-Madison students and other members of Madison’s Students for a Free Tibet.
“This [Chinese] occupation [of Tibet] is wrong, the self-immolations are wrong, [China’s] policies in general are wrong … and it should not be tolerated,” UW-Madison student Louis Martino said.
Jinping traveled to Iowa following a visit with President Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C., on his way to California.
Jinping chose to visit Iowa because Gov. Terry Branstad welcomed him to the state in 1985, two years into Branstad’s first term.
The morning rally began at a World War II memorial a block from Iowa’s state Capitol building. Following the rally, the protesters, some wearing traditional Tibetan garments and others wrapped in the Tibetan flag, marched through the heart of the city, aided by police protection at crosswalks.
The group later returned to the Capitol steps where they honored the 13 deceased self-immolators with Tibetan flags draped over symbolic coffins, bringing many to tears.
Emotions intensified as leaders of the Tibetan groups criticized Branstad for meeting with Jinping. According to Tenzing Jigme, the president of the Tibetan Youth Congress, Branstad was ignoring the communist country’s human rights violations for increased trade opportunities with one of the world’s emerging countries.
“Today, [America is] giving a red carpet welcome to a dictator,” Jigme said. “[Governor Terry Branstad], today you have failed the people of Iowa, you have failed the people of America, and you have failed the people of the world.”
But as the sun set, protestor’s fiery chants shifted to quiet determination not to leave the Capitol’s steps in spite of their agreement with police to move to a designated area by 5 p.m. to make way for Jinping’s arrival.
As resistance increased, police called for back up to prepare for a possible confrontation. Around 5:45 p.m., approximately 30 officers briskly and deliberately escorted the crowd away from the Capitol.
Although some protesters were briefly detained, police said they made no arrests.
Two UW-Madison students had different reactions to how the police handled the confrontation with protesters. Martino said he felt “sick to his stomach” after watching police detain fellow activists.
“[Police] say ‘to serve and protect’ and they’re not even protecting us,” Martino said over cries of “shame” directed at police. “They’re harassing us for [protecting] human rights and I’m sad that we can’t resist this even more.”
However, Tenzin Dechen commended police for their patience with the crowd that lingered at the Capitol past their deadline.
While tempers cooled between the ‘Free Tibet’ activists and police, Chinese supporters of Jinping gathered on the opposite side of the Capitol lawn, excitedly waiting for his motorcade to arrive.
University of Iowa graduate student Zhao Liu said he believes the desire for an independent Tibet is not as unanimous among Tibetans as the protesters make it seem.
“Some people think they want independence, but in the meantime there are people living in Tibet who don’t,” Liu said.
UW-Madison Chinese Students and Scholars Association Presidents Zhennen Zhao did not return a phone call requesting a comment.
Dechen said the trip was an overall success.
“It’s not like every day you get a chance to protest against another state leader,” he said. “I think he heard us.”
A photo gallery of the protest can be viewed here.
A video of the protest can be viewed here.
The first article of the series can be found here. It focuses on members of Students for a Free Tibet speaking out against the Chinese government's alleged human rights violations.
The second article of the series can be found here. It focuses a small Tibetan population in Madison that questions UW-Madison's plan to open an office in China this summer
