City of Toronto owes its Tibetan citizens an apology

The rally with flag-waving Chinese students hurling insults against Tibetans put a black mark on Toronto’s popular Dundas Square yesterday. Touted as a gathering to promote “anti-violence”, a throng of about 1,000 students chanted “Dalai Lama die there” to a small counter protest of Tibetan protesters who had gathered across the street.

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The Tibetans were not only vastly outnumbered, they looked it. Raucous and ear-splitting loud in nature, the protest attracted passersby and shoppers from the nearby Eaton Centre. The students in the square seemed to have the support of carfuls of other students circling the square, waving flags and honking horns. “No. No, this is not right,” said an elderly Chinese woman standing beside me on the sidewalk in front of the square. It was gratifying for me to know that some Torontonians did not approve what was going on in the square. When I crossed the street, Tibetans told me they had decided on an impromptu counter protest after word leaked out that the protest would be mainly anti-Tibet. The prime reason for the Chinese rally, they said, was to incite hatred against Tibetans. Their theory rings true when it is considered that the protest was advertised in the Chinese media as a rally to tell the “truth” about Tibet and “safeguard” the reunification of the motherland”. Flag-waving, chanting Chinese students denounced Tibetans who they blamed for the recent turmoil in Tibet in which as many as 100 are said to have died. Many of the passersby who stopped to watch, were from the nearby Chinese community and some were adversely impressed. They seemed uneasy and hesitated crossing the street because of the cruising cars with flags held outside passenger windows. “What do these kids know about life under the heel of a Communist regime?” asked one man who had stopped to ask what was going on. I was gratified to find out later that the event had been covered by The Epoch Times, whose story was posted on Internet giant, the Drudge Report. “The rally became dramatic when a Tibetan refugee took to the stage waving a Tibetan flag. He was seized by a group of Chinese who dragged him away before police intervened to separate them.” (The Epoch Times, March 29, 2008). “After the incident, the man spoke with The Epoch Times. In tears, he described the suffering of Tibetans under communist rule, explaining that he left Tibet 10 years ago and came to Canada only recently. The man said Toronto Mayor David Miller should reconsider a planned trip to China next moth amid the ongoing repression in Tibet by the communist regime. Between slurs, patriotic Chinese songs reverberated from the loudspeakers. Onlookers identified some of the songs coming from the square as Communist ones. Angry Chinese students turned on the smaller Tibetan group, screaming, “Dalai Lama lies!” “Liars, liars” and “Leave Canada!” “Leave Canada now!” You could read anxiety on the faces of onlookers when a man, waving a huge Chinese flag suddenly charged across busy Yonge Street to where the Tibetans were protesting, The Epoch Times said he was identified as University of Toronto student Yang Shao by other students in the square. Police at 52 Division said the man had been released and no charges had been laid. Dundas Square is a popular gathering place and features top entertainment throughout the year. The City of Toronto oversees programming and events. Its own protocol rules include not permitting use of the square to those who would belittle any identifiable group with a rider that messages can only be communicated in a positive way. Today’s event got the green light under the guise of a “Love China Concert”. Bureaucrats were not doing their job as even English-language flyers advertising the event pushed a distinctly anti-Tibetan theme. As Toronto Mayor David Miller plans his China trip, world leaders are boycotting the Olympics in Beijing in protest to the Chinese government’s crackdown in Tibet. Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, became the first EU head of government to announce a boycott on Thursday and he was soon joined by President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic, who will renege on plans to travel to Beijing. German chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday became the first world leader to decide not to attend the Beijing Olympics. EU leaders are preparing to discuss the crisis. Meanwhile, the City of Toronto owes its Tibetan citizens a sincere apology for what was allowed to happen at Dundas Square today.