Demonstrators show their support for Chinese President Xi Jinping outside the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, January 18, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
By Tom Miles
GENEVA (Reuters) - Security blanketed the United Nations' European headquarters on Wednesday to avoid any risk or embarrassment to visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping, while police swiftly ended a small pro-Tibetan protest on the square outside.
Car parks, meeting rooms and shops were shut and declared off-limits as the U.N. complex largely emptied before Xi's arrival and many of the roughly 3,000 staff went home early.
A U.N. spokeswoman said employees had been encouraged to work from home because Xi's 200-strong delegation and an audience of 800 would arrive for his speech just as staff left for the day. It was "logistical, not political", she said.
Police stopped five activists outside the United Nations as they unfurled a Tibetan flag and signs reading "Arrest Xitler, Free Tibet". A police spokesman said the protest was unauthorized. An authorized pro-China protest of about 100 people began later.
"This has just happened in Geneva, in the city of human rights, in the city of freedom, and this is very shameful," said Migmar Dhakyel, spokeswoman for the association of Tibetan Youth in Europe.
Security turns U.N. in Geneva into ghost town as China's Xi visits
by Boris
Jan 18, 2017
By Tom Miles
GENEVA (Reuters) - Security blanketed the United Nations' European headquarters on Wednesday to avoid any risk or embarrassment to visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping, while police swiftly ended a small pro-Tibetan protest on the square outside.
Car parks, meeting rooms and shops were shut and declared off-limits as the U.N. complex largely emptied before Xi's arrival and many of the roughly 3,000 staff went home early.
A U.N. spokeswoman said employees had been encouraged to work from home because Xi's 200-strong delegation and an audience of 800 would arrive for his speech just as staff left for the day. It was "logistical, not political", she said.
Police stopped five activists outside the United Nations as they unfurled a Tibetan flag and signs reading "Arrest Xitler, Free Tibet". A police spokesman said the protest was unauthorized. An authorized pro-China protest of about 100 people began later.
"This has just happened in Geneva, in the city of human rights, in the city of freedom, and this is very shameful," said Migmar Dhakyel, spokeswoman for the association of Tibetan Youth in Europe.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/security-turns-u-n-geneva-ghost-town-chinas-163153380.html