SAN FRANCISCO, California — As the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit grew to a close here Nov. 17, demonstrators who took to the streets all week to shut down the meetings wondered if their efforts were in vain.
The demonstrations began Nov. 12, when an estimated 8,000 people marched the streets of downtown San Francisco to protest the Biden Administration’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity — IPEF — introduced in May 2022. Protesters noted that the initiative allows the fast-tracking of trade deals in the Indo-Pacific region, with no Congressional oversight, possibly hampering workers’ rights and biodiversity in environmentally-challenged regions.
A second demonstration occurred Nov. 15, as protesters assembled on the perimeters of the Moscone Center, where the two-day APEC CEO Summit was being held. Demonstrators accused CEOs of back-room, closed door trade deals that left workers in the Indo-Pacific region in near poverty.
Arrests
The situation for women workers, who do a significant portion of the manual labor in sweatshop settings, is especially dire, noted demonstrators, some of whom tried to pull people away from entering the security zone. At least three people were arrested in clashes with police. One officer told Ethnic Media Services that police from all over the country had been called in to help with security during the APEC summit. He was from New Jersey.
The heavily-guarded security zone allowed only people with APEC credentials to get through. People with credentials faced wait times of 30 minutes or more in airport-like security searches, including metal detector scans.
Free Tibet
On Nov. 15, as President Joe Biden met with China’s President Xi Jinping for a daylong meeting in Woodside, California, thousands of demonstrators assembled at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco, and marched down Geary Street through the Tenderloin, until they were stopped by police as they hit Market Street. Tibetans joined Uyghurs, Hongkongers, Southern Mongolians and Taiwanese people to protest China’s alleged record of human rights violations.
“Xi Jinping, your time is up. You are not welcome here,” chanted the protesters, characterizing the premier as “an architect of genocide.”
“China, the world is watching you,” they shouted, alternating their chants with “Free Tibet,” Free Mongolia,” Free Taiwan,” and “Free China.”
Human Rights Violations
Demonstrators claimed that the Biden-Xi meeting was moved to Woodside, about an hour away from San Francisco, because “Xi is afraid of us.”
Tenzing Cheoyang, past president of Students for a Free Tibet, told Ethnic Media Services on the sidelines of the march: “We are hoping to shut the meeting down. Anything America allows China to do is just hypocrisy. Biden must talk to Xi about China’s human rights violations.”
At several points during the day, anti-China protesters clashed with pro-Chinese factions who had come out from across the state to show support for Xi.
‘I Am Proud’
Speaking to EMS after the Biden-Xi meet, Tsering Diki, an organizer of the demonstration, told EMS he felt he had been heard. “I am proud,” he said.
“I am immensely proud of the hundreds of Tibetans, Hongkongers, Uyghurs, and other allies that came to protest Xi Jinping and unwelcome him. Dictator Xi Jinping is an architect of genocide responsible for the oppression of millions of occupied people. He commits human rights atrocities against those subjected to the Chinese Communist Party’s rule. Xi should not be welcomed in the free world.”
“President Biden raised concerns regarding China’s human rights abuses, including in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong. I hope to see change. I know Tibet will be free,” said Diki.
Unfair Economic Practices
A read-out of the Biden-Xi meeting provided by the White House confirms that Biden raised concerns regarding China’s human rights abuses, including in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong. Biden also called for restraint in China’s use of military activity in the Taiwan Strait.
The President also expressed concerns about China’s economic practices, which, he said, hampers free trade and hurts American workers and their families.
Nik Evasco, a spokesperson for the Climate Bloc of the No on APEC Coalition and an organizer of the demonstrations, told EMS Nov. 16 that Biden had “wantonly ignored” the demands of his constituents.
No Second Term
“We brought our demands for a summit that is not based on corporate giveaways and abusing people and the environment, but is focused on uplifting the will of the communities directly impacted by free trade attacks.”
“President Biden’s remarks at the CEO Summit reflect the diminishing returns of his approach as a world leader. Wrapping himself in a flag, he has pandered to corporate interests, and contributed nothing of substance that addresses the dire realities of the world we live in today,” said Evasco, stating that the President does not deserve a second term.
Earlier that day, the Biden administration rolled out a new initiative aimed at improving labor practices around the world.
