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Chinese students gather in pro-China demo

21/04/2008

Hundreds of Chinese students gathered in Manchester at the weekend to protest against the UK's apparently unfair portrayal of China.

On Saturday, at least 1,000 students gathered outside the BBC's Manchester headquarters on Oxford Road to demonstrate their support for the Chinese government. Another 300 congregated outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster.

Protesters held a two-hour silent demonstration outside in Manchester before proceeding to read an open letter to the BBC accusing it of "tarnishing and demonising" China.

The BBC has said its coverage of China, Tibet and the Olympics torch had been "fair and balanced".

Protest organiser Tian Yang said protestors were not just targeting the BBC but all western broadcasters.

"All we want is more people to listen to our voice and Chinese people's voices," he remarked.

"The way they frame the story is biased. There is only one side of the story. They take their views from Tibetan government and the western petitions."

Manchester is home to one of the largest Chinese communities in Britain. The city's famous Chinatown is dominated by the Ming Dynasty Imperial Chinese Arch, which was a gift to the city from China.