Protesters criticize China's human-rights record

More than 250 human-rights activists from as far away as Colorado marched across downtown Seattle Monday and plan even bigger protests today in anticipation of Chinese President Hu Jintao's historic visit.

More protesters from Portland and Vancouver, B.C., were expected to arrive this morning to join hundreds of local residents who are either criticizing China's human-rights record or advocating independence from China for Taiwan or Tibet, according to several organizers.

Eric Huang, 56, of San Francisco, said he arrived Monday morning on a bus with 50 other protesters from Northern California.

He plans to fly to Washington, D.C., later in the week to protest Hu's visit at the White House.

The Silicon Valley engineer said he wants to be the voice "of the people who have been persecuted for their religious beliefs."

The largest Seattle protest will be at 12:30 p.m. outside the Fairmont Olympic Hotel today, when anti-Communist and human-rights groups will gather to chant and hold signs criticizing Hu's regime.

The size of the protest still is unclear because organizers were scrambling Monday evening to get the word out that the Chinese delegation will stay at the Fairmont, not at the Westin, as many protesters had anticipated.

A U.S. Secret Service spokesman said Monday some streets downtown may be closed temporarily to move the president and his delegation to their events.

City officials said the protesters did not request a permit to demonstrate outside the Fairmont, though a Seattle police spokesman said authorities may still allow groups to gather there if traffic is not disrupted.

Last year, the Vietnamese prime minister stayed at the Fairmont, and Secret Service and police confined protesters to one block across from the hotel.

Most protesting Hu's visit are from the Tibetan and the Taiwanese communities. Some who practice Falun Gong, a spiritual movement banned in China, will be among the protesters. The groups vow to be peaceful.

Some protesters said they plan to follow the Chinese delegation to the Microsoft campus, Boeing plant in Everett and even to Bill Gates' Medina mansion, where the president will dine tonight.

Monday afternoon, Falun Gong held the first protest, with a march through the Chinatown International District and downtown Seattle, ending with a rally at Westlake Park.

Followers believe their system of meditation and exercise brings greater mental health and inner peace. But the Chinese government considers Falun Gong a dangerous cult and banned it in 1999. Some human-rights groups have accused the government of torturing or incarcerating thousands of Falun Gong members.

"The president has the responsibility to stop the persecutions," said Allison Pan, a Falun Gong spokeswoman.

Falun Gong members re-enacted the torture tactics they claim the Communist regime has used on them.

Tan Vinh: 206-515-5656 or tvinh@seattletimes.com