M21 in Washington, DC
25 Mar 2008 20:54 EDT

The cost to China and the increase in their paranoia due to recent actions is becoming apparent. We arrived at the 2300 Connecticut Ave. to find a number of new security cameras and spotlights installed on the building and a professional powerwasher service trying to clean the bloodstains (from M16) off the embassy facade. But the blood on China’s hands cannot be washed away by anything short of Tibetan independence.

The M21 action in DC consisted of a procession of coffins and lifesize photographs of the martyrs shot by police in Amdo Ngawa. Tibetans from Ngawa and other parts of Amdo designed and directed the action, spending several nights building cardboard coffins and gluing together 8.5x11” paper tiles before the big day.

Joining us were various non-Tibetan supporters, including Sherpa and a number of Uyghurs, whose growing involvement continues to terrify China.

China’s atrocities in Amdo Ngawa included the killing of a 16-year-old middle school girl named Lhundup Tso (see her brother’s video testimony) among at least 22 others.

As the “funeral procession” returned to the Chinese embassy after passing through the streets of Washington, a van full of embassy guests from China left with protesters in pursuit. We managed to catch the van out of the sight of police while it was stopped at a traffic light, and blocked its way when the driver attempted to make an illegal right-turn-on-red to escape the confrontation. One woman in the passenger seat, apparently convinced by Chinese state media that Tibetans are murderous villains, hid her face in terror — but of course we let them pass after a few moments of intense shaming.

Towards the end of the day, a reporter from NPR interviewed a number of the Tibetan protesters for a program to air on Sunday, March 23.

Photos available on Facebook: M21 Washington DC

Video available on YouTube: M21 in Washington, DC: Free Tibet