Peaceful protest against violence in Tibet

In a peaceful protest held at the gates of the Chinese embassy in St Julians, Moviment Graffitti condemned the violence used by the Chinese officials in Tibet.

Chanting "China stop the violence" and holding the Tibetan flag, the handful of protesters used whistles to draw attention to their cause. The protest, which lasted an hour and a half was photographed and filmed by the curious staff of the embassy from within the building and compound, which also serves as their residence.

Speaking on behalf of Moviment Graffitti Angele Deguara called on the Chinese government to take concrete steps towards respecting the human rights of the Tibetan people.

At one point a diplomatic official asked the police, who were present at the request of the embassy, to remove the protesters from standing in front of the main gate.

The Second Secretary of the embassy Mr Maoyi Zhou asked the reporters to go inside in order to clarify the official position of the Chinese government. He said the situation has improved in the last two to three days in Lhasa, the traditional capital of Tibet, but it was all a conspiracy by the "Dalai Lama clique". He added that it was an attempt by the clique to undermine the preparations in the run up to the Olympics.

Moviment Grafitti said that they are pushing for the religious and cultural rights of the Tibetan population to be respected by the Chinese authorities so that they might live in harmony with the rest of China.

Mr Zhou said the attacks by the Tibetan protesters were pre-meditated and the uprising in Tibet together with other attacks on Chinese embassies around the world all happened simultaneously. "Their aim is to be completely independent from China".

He added that it was because of the Chinese government that living standards had improved drastically in the last few years and that Tibet had moved forward. Moviment Graffitti added that the "Chinese government responds to peaceful protest through ruthless and arbitrary measures of torture and imprisonment".