Thousands take to streets in protests against Nato
THOUSANDS of demonstrators took to the streets of Beijing and other Chinese cities yesterday in protest at the Nato bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade.
More than 2,000 protesters, most university students, surrounded the US Embassy in Beijing yesterday afternoon and hurled stones, plastic bottles and debris at the compound.
Students and onlookers cheered and clapped as the US flag was burned outside the main gates of the building.
While hundreds of police watched, the students from each college stopped in front of the main embassy building and one housing its visa and agriculture section, sang the national anthem and shouted slogans such as 'Down with US Running Dogs', 'Down with Nato', 'Long Live China', and 'Clinton-Hitler'.
As tempers flared, people picked up stones from the pavement - being resurfaced for celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of communist China on October 1 - and hurled them into the embassy compound.
Two glass lamps over the main entrance were smashed to loud applause.
Later, about 1,000 regrouped in front of the embassy and again stoned the compound. The protesters ignored requests by unarmed police to leave the area, and some were seen digging up the road and throwing pieces of it at the embassy.
'Who do you represent? China or the US?' one protester was heard saying as they argued with police.
Protests against Nato were also held in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. According to Guangdong television, more than 10,000 marched through Guangzhou's consulate district yesterday afternoon, waving banners and chanting anti-Nato slogans.
In Shanghai, hundreds marched in the heart of the city's shopping district, after holding an afternoon demonstration outside the US Consulate.
Around 100 Chinese people living in Belgrade marched in the Yugoslav capital yesterday. They carried Chinese and Yugoslav flags, as well as anti-Nato and anti-US banners.
In Hong Kong about 150 protesters gathered outside the US and British consulates in Central yesterday.
Led by two pro-Beijing groups - the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) and the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) - they condemned the Nato act as an attack on Chinese sovereignty.
Legislator Tsang Yok-sing, who led the DAB protest, called for compensation from Nato.
'The bombing against Yugoslavia has continued for over a month and has caused heavy losses to innocent life and property,' Mr Tsang said.
'Nato must stop at once and resolve the Kosovo crisis by diplomatic means.' Describing the missile strike as barbarous, veteran unionist and local National People's Congress deputy Cheng Yiu-tong accused Nato of violating internationally recognised conventions.
The DAB handed in two petition letters to the American Consulate-General and the British Consulate-General. The FTU submitted a protest letter to the American Consulate-General.
