Chinese protest against western support for Tibet independence

People in several Chinese cities have launched protests against a demand by some Western countries to grant independence to Tibet.

New Delhi, Apr.21 : People in several Chinese cities have launched protests against a demand by some Western countries to grant independence to Tibet.

According to The China Daily, protests took place in national capital Beijing, in the eastern cities of Hefei and Qingdao, in the central city of Wuhan, in the southwestern city of Kunming and in the northwestern city of Xi'an.

The protesters gathered in front of shops of the French supermarket Carrefour in these cities, chanting slogans of "boycott Carrefour", "oppose Tibet independence" and others.

They also handed out leaflets to passengers.

On Saturday, a protest march was held in front of the French Embassy and the Beijing French School in Beijing, which lasted less than half an hour.

The Chinese said they wanted to express their anger at western support for "Tibet independence" and did not want to cause social disturbance.

Zhang Junsheng, director of the WTO research institute of the Beijing-based University of International Business and Economics, said the protests were a spontaneous move by Chinese nationals to express their attitude toward "Tibet independence."

Online and text messages began to call for boycotts of Carrefour and other foreign retailers to protest western supports to "Tibet independence" secessionists after the disruptions of the Olympic torch relay in Paris and other foreign cities.

The calls attempted to mobilize Chinese citizens to boycott purchases in chain stores of Carrefour and Louis Vuitton, a French luxury brand, and Body shop, a cosmetics retailer belonging to L'Oreal SA.

French retailer giant Carrefour has opened 109 supermarkets in China by the end of last year since it entered the Chinese market in 1995.

ANI