Thousands of ethnic Chinese residing or studying in Sweden took to street on Saturday afternoon to voice their support for the forthcoming Beijing Olympics and condemnations of Tibetan separatists' attempt to sabotage the event.
The protestors waved China's national flags, held banners on supporting the Beijing Olympics and chanted such slogans as "Tibet, part of China forever," "Beijing welcomes you" and "No distorted report."
Setting out at the Mynttorget Square, the protestors marched through the downtown areas before arriving at the Sergelstorg Square. There some demonstrators delivered speeches, condemning attempts to sabotage the Olympic torch relay and some Western media's biased report on China.
"We are standing up to let our voices be heard in Sweden, Europe and the whole world. We're here to safeguard the Olympic movement and the dignity of the Chinese nation. To attempts to politicize the Olympics, to biased news coverage and to all those who intend to slander China, our answer is NO," said one of the speakers at the rally.
According to a leading organizer of the event, the gathering marks the biggest of its kind by ethnic Chinese in Sweden. He said when he applied for the gathering he expected some 500 to 600 people to come, but the actual turnout far exceeded his expectation.
Some local Swedish people also joined the protest, and Per Nordin, a composer, was one of them.
Olympics should not be interrupted by politics, Nordin told Xinhua, who also expressed his support for the Beijing Olympic Games scheduled for August.
Nordin also said China's affairs should be decided by the Chinese people and no other countries should interfere.