Hundreds of protesters marched and waved signs and flags and occasionally scuffled Wednesday across San Francisco where President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are attending an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit after holding talks down the road from the city at a Woodside estate.
More than 1,000 demonstrators waving Tibetan flags marched mid-day down Market Street chanting “Free Tibet” and criticizing the Chinese Communist Party and its leader Xi. There were reports of isolated pushing and shoving between groups of critics and supporters of China in the city.
“The United States is a country that believes in human rights,” said demonstrator Penpa Dhundup, 50, of Berkeley, who was draped in a gold, red and blue Tibetan flag and wore a “Save Tibet” headband. “How can they welcome a Communist Party who takes away everything which the United States is based on?”
Earlier in the morning, police in riot gear pushed up against a crowd of demonstrators representing workers’ rights, environmental and other causes gathered at Fifth and Mission streets trying to prevent attendees from entering the conference at nearby Moscone Center.
“The goal is to try to shut down meetings,” said Donna Denina of Seattle, one of the No to APEC protest organizers. “They’re going to talk about trade deals that are not good for people or the planet. What they’re doing impacts billions of people around the world. There’s a lot of collusion between government and corporate interests, not in line with working people. We don’t have a seat at the table, they shouldn’t either.”
It did not appear any were prevented from attending or any meetings disrupted. San Francisco’s Joint Information Center reported Wednesday that as of mid-afternoon there was just one arrest around 10:30 a.m. for an aggravated assault in the area of Jessie West and 5th streets, for which no further details were available. Police also evacuated a mall during the lunch…
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