On Olympics Eve, Complaints About Lack of Human Rights in China

WASHINGTON DC (WUSA) -- Millions watch, thousands protest.

When the Olympics kick off tomorrow in Beijing --with the most expensive opening ceremonies ever-- many Chinese refugees in the Washington area will watch with dismay.

There were protests across DC tonight. Tibetan monks, Falun Gong practitioners, even Olympic athletes -- all complaining that China's broken it's promises to the International Olympic Committee to respect human rights and freedom of religion.

The Tibetan monks hope their chants at DuPont Circle will be heard over the trilling of the trumpets of the Olympic Anthem in Beijing.

Turn off they ceremonies at Birds Nest Stadium, they say, and protest China's violent repression of a once independent Tibet. "Let the whole world know that what China is doing is not right," says Lhundup Amdo of the Capital Area Tibetan Association. China has "the right to have the Olympics, but we have the right to speak out. "

Just up Connecticut Avenue in front of the Chinese Embassy, more protests. "10-thousand Fallon Gong practitioners have been thrown in labor camps and jails as China prepares for these Olympics," said a protestor with a megaphone.

Practioners of Fallon Gong, a form of meditation and spirituality practiced by millions, say the Chinese government has stepped up it's efforts to suffocate their movement. Anne Yang says a friend of hers was grabbed by Beijing police in January. "He was tortured to death in police custody in 11 days," she says.

The scores of Chinese workers brought to Washington to build it's massive new embassy had little to say. They just shook their heads when asked about the Olympics.

But not so Joey Cheek, an Olympic medalist, who had he's visa for the Beijing games pulled after complaining that the Chinese regime is propping up the Sudan, and it's genocide against the people of Darfur. "They said, you're not going to be able to travel to China, your visa has been revoked,. When I asked for a reason... they said, we don't need to give you a reason." At least for American audiences, the point about Chinese support for Sudan may be made in an even more powerful way. The American flag-bearer tomorrow night will be a refugee from Darfur -- a former child soldier -- who only gained American citizenship 13 months ago.