China deports Japanese ‘Free Tibet’ protester

It should come as no shock that a Japanese citizen who took part in a Pro-Tibetan protest in Beijing has been detained and deported:

A Japanese pro-Tibetan independence protester detained by Chinese authorities for demonstrating in Beijing was deported from China early Thursday, Japanese Embassy officials said.

Beijing’s Public Security Bureau notified the Japanese Embassy in the capital that Pema Yoko, a 25-year-old Londoner born to a Tibetan father and a Japanese mother, left here on a plane bound for a European destination, they said.

Seven American citizens were also detained and deported for participating in the protest. Chinese police also attacked and detained an ITN journalist who had been at the scene reporting. The international press has reported that the Chinese government has also been turning down all applications for demonstrations, despite previous claims that such activities would be allowed during the Olympics in several designated “protest zones” in Beijing.

Meanwhile, in Tokyo a crazy right winger was arrested for swinging around a sword in front of the U.S. Embassy. He also threw a message bottle “to send a protest to the US president” about America’s North Korea policy.