"Unwelcome Xi Jinping": New York Tibetans Launch 200-Mile March to Washington to Protest
Tibetans in New York and some supporters set off outside the United Nations headquarters, embarking on a six-day, 200-mile march to Washington to protest against Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is about to visit the United States, and to commemorate Lobsang Wangdue, a Tibetan who previously died by self-immolation.
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What brought 19-year-old Karma to tears was Lobsang Wangdue, whom he had known for 10 years. On July 1 of this year, China began implementing the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress. At 5:47 p.m. the following day, Lobsang Wangdue died by self-immolation outside the United Nations headquarters in New York. He had long participated in the Tibetan independence movement and served as the president of the New York and New Jersey chapter of the Tibetan National Congress. More than two months later, 20 marchers chose to set off from the same location at the same moment, with Karma and his mother among them. One of the direct purposes of the march was to protest against Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is about to visit the United States.
The current president of the New York and New Jersey chapter of the Tibetan National Congress hopes that when President Trump meets with Xi Jinping, he will raise the issues of Tibet and human rights. On the evening of September 17, the marchers set off from the UN headquarters in New York and walked to the Lincoln Tunnel. On September 18, the group continued their journey from Independence Hall in Philadelphia, distributing materials along the way to passersby introducing Tibet and their demands, and are expected to arrive in Washington on the 23rd. Most participants are undertaking such a long-distance march for the first time, and there are also non-Tibetans in the group, including a Buddhist from the Republic of Kalmykia in southern Russia. After six days and 200 miles, they plan to complete the final leg on the 24th, walking from the Chinese Embassy in the United States in Washington to the White House.