Hundreds of human rights demonstrators descended on Washington, D.C., this week to protest Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit, gathering outside the White House on Thursday evening while President Donald Trump hosted a state dinner for the Chinese leader inside. According to Breitbart News, the crowd in Lafayette Park was loud enough to be heard through the walls of the White House — competing with the music of the Marine Corps band.
A Coordination of Activists
Organizers, including Tibetan and Uyghur activist groups, planned a series of events across the capital timed to coincide with Xi’s arrival. At some of those gatherings, pro-Communist demonstrators showed up and physically clashed with the human rights protesters, Breitbart reported.
The coalition outside the White House was a broad one. Alongside Tibetan and Uyghur organizations, protesters from Hong Kong rallied against what they describe as Beijing’s tightening grip on the territory. Placards carried the slogan of the 2019 pro-democracy uprising: “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times.” That movement was effectively crushed in 2020 when the Beijing-controlled Hong Kong government imposed a national security law that criminalized nearly all criticism of the Chinese Communist Party.
Chants included “Free Hong Kong,” “Keep Taiwan Free,” “Xi Jinping, You’re Not Welcome,” and “China Sponsors Genocide” — the last a reference to allegations of mass detention and forced labor targeting Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang.
Protesters Got Creative
The demonstrations were not limited to chanting. One group set up a punching exercise of sorts, taking turns slapping, stomping, and clubbing a dummy of Xi wearing a shirt emblazoned with “FREE PUNCH.” Others marched in Winnie-the-Pooh costumes — a pointed reference to the Chinese government’s partial ban on depictions of the fictional bear after social media users noted a resemblance between Pooh and Xi. A Pooh head was hoisted high on a pole as marchers called for freedom for Tibet, Hong Kong, the Uyghurs, and Jimmy Lai, the imprisoned Hong Kong media mogul.
One protester, a Chinese citizen, described the surveillance and repression that drove him to speak out. He told Firstpost that he had been harassed by police after posting the “wrong thing” on WeChat and other social media platforms. “They will arrest you. You have no freedom,” he said of life for dissidents in China, adding that authorities warn people who speak out online that their spouses and children could also be arrested.
Another demonstrator told Firstpost: “I hope Emperor Xi won’t remain in power. I hope he can give Chinese people real freedom – freedom of speech and religion.”
A State Visit, a Contrast
The protest outside stood in stark contrast to the formal pomp inside the White House, where Trump was hosting Xi for a state dinner — a high-profile diplomatic engagement that drew criticism from human rights advocates who argue such treatment legitimizes Beijing’s authoritarian rule. The decision to roll out the red carpet for Xi comes as his government continues to face international scrutiny over its human rights record and its crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet.
For the activists in Lafayette Park, the message was simple: the Chinese Communist Party’s machinery of repression remains fully operational, and they want the world to see it.
Breitbart News credited Matt Perdie for videos and interviews from the protest.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2026/09/25/large-crowds-protest-against-chinese-communism-outside-wh-during-state-dinner-xi/