More of 400 Tibetans living in Switzerland and their supporters held a demonstration in Bern on Sunday ahead of the state visit of the president of China, Xi Jinping.
Police said it was a peaceful protest., away from the sight of Chinese officials.
But during later protests in the so-called “security zone”, more of 30 People were arrested and the police had to intervene to prevent a pro-Tibet protester from blowing himself up..
in 1999, Tibetan sympathizers displayed banners reading “Free Tibet.”” in front of the Swiss Parliament Square, during the visit of the then Chinese president, Jiang Zemin. The president then declared that the Swiss Government had “lost a good friend.”.
Switzerland has the largest Tibetan community in Europe, more than 4 000 members. Many of them fled to Switzerland after the invasion (or liberation, according to the chinese) of your country in 1950 by Mao Tse-Tung's troops, after the reunification of the country. The measure led to exile on the 14thº Dalai Lama. The spiritual leader established a Tibetan government in exile in India and has demanded Tibet's independence from China.
The opinion of the Swiss Government is that there is only one China - the People's Republic of China- and that Tibet is part of it.
