Protesters followed Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping everywhere he went during his two-day visit in Los Angeles last week. Alongside Tibetan and Falun Gong protesters, there were some flag-waving Chinese students, who had been paid by the Chinese Consulate to welcome Xi. Some of them grasped the opportunity to make friends with the Falun Gong practitioners and quit from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Close to two hundred protesters waited for Xi in Los Angeles on Feb. 16 and 17, the largest protests during his five-day visit to the U.S. Tibetans chanted slogans denouncing human rights abuses by Chinese officials in Tibet, while Falun Gong practitioners held a continuous 30-hour vigil near the JW Marriot on Olympic Blvd. where Xi was staying.
Dr. Jason Lu, an Assistant Project Scientist at UC San Diego, and a Falun Gong practitioner, joined the protesters in Los Angeles on Friday. “During the daytime, we meditated and held banners. We tried to send Xi and his people a message to stop the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China,” he said.
Students Quit the Party
A “welcoming” group of Chinese students arranged by the Chinese Consulate also arrived. Some of them took the opportunity to get to know the Falun Gong practitioners.
