Father proud of Japanese woman arrested at protest in Beijing

Thursday 14th August, 03:35 AM JST

BEIJING —

The father of a Japanese citizen detained at a pro-Tibetan independence protest near the Olympic village in Beijing on Wednesday says he is proud of her action. Ugyan Norbu told Kyodo News his daughter was helping to raise the world’s awareness of the plight of Tibetans within China who want their own homeland. Pema Yoko, 25, was arrested along with seven other members of the U.S.-based group Students for a Free Tibet earlier in the day after staging a protest outside an ethnic-minority theme park near the main Olympic Stadium.

Yoko’s father is a Tibetan exile living in London and her mother, who died six years ago, was Japanese. Norbu, 57, said, ‘‘My daughter was speaking out on behalf of 6 million Tibetans who have no voice. For thousands of years we had our own country and that has been taken away from us.’’ ‘‘I am obviously concerned for the welfare of my daughter. I am also angry that she has been arrested for carrying out a peaceful protest,’’ he added. Yoko watched the protest outside the theme park and was arrested after she was interviewed by reporters, explaining the reasons for the demonstration. Yoko was born and lives in London. Her parents met in the British capital in 1978 when her mother, Chiyo Niwa from Nagoya, was a student in Britain. Her father fled from Tibet as a boy in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

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7 Comments

PepinGalarga at 09:34 AM JST - 14th August

what about the plight of tibetans in Japan?
bushlover at 10:00 AM JST - 14th August

Sorry but as much as I feel sorry for Tibet. The Olympics is no where to stage protests. The arrests were deserved.
rajakumar at 10:03 AM JST - 14th August

Protestors just be patient another 10 days, then protest all you want in Beijing.
Nippon5 at 10:32 AM JST - 14th August

in ten more days they will get shot for protesting in Beijing, so this is the only time they will have the media following them and may make it out alive.
burikko at 12:02 PM JST - 14th August

Was she born and bred in England? Even if so I would like to be proud of her because of her nationality.
USNinJapan2 at 04:11 PM JST - 14th August

Saw the protest and arrests on CNN. Anyone not expecting to be arrested after doing that in Beijing during the Olympics is naive.
PepinGalarga at 10:52 AM JST - 16th August

i agree with nippon5, with the cameras looking people have to act civilized. They will be taking pictures of all demonstrators anyway so they'll track you down laterz.