By IANS,
Toronto : The Chinese authorities deported yet another Canadian citizen for staging a pro-Tibet protest in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
Chris Schwartz, 24, from Montreal was arrested Saturday along with four other foreigners during a dramatic pro-Tibet protest.
Schwartz was put on a flight out of Beijing.
The protesters had reportedly carried the Tibetan flag under the cover of the Canadian flag to the protest venue.
Earlier, three Canadians were arrested last Tuesday near the Great Wall for protesting against China’s presence in Tibet. They were deported the next day.
The three Canadians identified as Lhadon Tethong, Sam Price and Melanie Raoul were part of the New York-based group called Students for a Free Tibet which says China is using the Olympics to gain international legitimacy despite its poor human rights record.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson, who represented his country at the Olympics opening ceremony, said he was opposed to “politicisation” of the Games.
Tibetan supporters in Canada have been quite active in protests against Beijing since the Chinese crackdown in Tibet.
At the height of the crackdown in March, the Chinese ambassador to Canada had inflamed passions here by using derogatory language against the Dalai Lama.
Though the Canadian government has denied it, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision not to attend the Olympics opening is being viewed as continuation of its hard-line on China’s human rights record.