Chinese activists gather in Jinan to hail victory of Ukrainian protesters

Chinese activists held a small rally near a park in Jinan , Shandong province, on Sunday afternoon to hail the victory of anti-government protesters in Ukraine.

A photo, posted on popular microblog service Sina Weibo, showed three men and a woman in front of a stone sculpture outside Baotu Spring Park, holding two banners that read: "The Ukrainians are free, how long will we Chinese have to wait?"

Ying Ligang , the human rights activist who took the photo, said: "It's so inspiring to see the victory in Ukraine, and we're celebrating for them."

Ying, who is from Jiangxi, and five other activists from across the country met in Jinan to support the case calling for an investigation into the suspicious death of dissident Xue Mingkai's father. The elder Xue died after falling from a government building while under detention in Qufu, Shandong, last month.

Ying said Sunday's rally drew the attention of some passers-by, but they left before police came.

"Ukrainians are fighting for themselves, but we Chinese do nothing," Wang Mo , one of the activists in the photo, said in a telephone interview. "We stood up first and hope that more people will follow us.