Tibetan activists staged a protest during the National Basketball Association (NBA) pre-season match between the Brooklyn Nets and the Toronto Raptors in New York City. The protestors were calling for support for the ongoing democracy protestors in Hong Kong and to defy the half century of Chinese rule in Tibet. Tibetan and Hong Kong activists stood side by side in the stands shouting slogans for human rights to be respected in Tibet, East Turkestan (Xinjiang), Hong Kong and China
Demonstrators wore T-shirts displaying messages “Stand with Hong Kong” and carried banners. The demonstration was organised by the film producer and activist Andrew Duncan who bought 300 tickets for the match and gave them to the protestors.
Among the protestors was Hong Kong activist Nathan Law, the co-founder of Demosisto, the pro-democracy Hong Kong youth activist group. The group of Tibetan activists wore white T-shirts with “Free Tibet” written in English, Tibetan and Chinese, alongside the Hong Kong protestors. “The NBA, as well as corporations and people everywhere, should resist the oppressive influence of the Chinese government and stand with Tibetans, Uyghurs, Hong Kongers,” said Sonam Tso, Campaigns and Communications Director of Students for a Free Tibet.
Similar demonstrations have been held at the other games between NBA and Chinese Teams. Two people were asked to leave a game between Philadelphia 76rs and the Guangzhou Loong-Lions for holding signs in support of the Hong Kong protest.
The series of protests at the NBA games were instigated when the NBA bowed to China and distanced themselves from a pro-Hong Kong tweet two weeks ago by Houston Rockets manager Daryl Morey, “Fight for freedom stand with Hong Kong”. This tweet caused several Chinese firms to suspend sponsorship and telecast deals which had serious financial implications for the NBA. The NBA distanced themselves from Mr Morey’s tweet, calling it “regrettable”, sparking the protests.
A separate Tibetan protest linked to the situation in Hong Kong took place when Tibetan activists joined people representing the Muslim minority Uyghurs of East Turkistan (Xinjiang in north western China) as well as people from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, to protest alongside SumOfUs, the global corporate watchdog, in front of Apple’s Grand Central Station store in New York City. They were calling on Apple to stop collaborating with China’s censorship and its restrictions on freedom of expression; this concerns HKmap.live, a web mapping service which crowd sources and tracks the location of protesters and police in Hong Kong, with information about police patrols and tear gas deployments. China accused Apple, who owns the App, of “endorsing and protecting” the rioters. Apple has removed the app.
While the Hong Kong protest has been going on for months, several other protests and demonstrations have rocked other cities around the world. Spain, Chile and Lebanon have seen angry citizens taking to the streets to protest against inequality, injustice, inflation and corruption.
In Spain, protestors stormed the streets of Barcelona following the arrest last week of some pro-Catalan independence leaders. Protestors torched cars, burnt barricades and hurled stones at police who were using tear gas and rubber bullets to quell the demonstration.
In South America, the capital city of Chili, Santiago, saw violent protestors demonstrating against inflation and the irregular distribution of national income. Atleast 11 people have been killed and President Sebastian Pinera has declared a state of emergency.
In Lebanon, a protest against the new proposed tax law has been escalating, paralysing the country and shutting schools, universities and businesses. The protest continues to swell despite the Lebanese government’s new package which the demonstrators have called “Empty Promises”.
Iran has also seen a mass protest against government policies which have failed its citizens over decades. People are calling on the government to end the political system that has been based on sectarian and ethnic quotas instead of merits.
Looking at the protests around the globe, experts have identified four major points of contention saying that global leaders have failed their citizens and pinpointing economic inequality, massive corruption, lack of political freedom and inadequate action taken against climate change.
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