Report on demonstration for 5th anniversary of the kidnap of The Panchen Lama We seem to be gaining more cohesion as a group at the moment. It seems to be developing it's own will. That was clear last night where we acted well together although of the 25 who attended, eight were first time attendees and three had first attended the previous fortnight. This good fortune completely made up for the loss of numbers caused by Climb for Tibet arranging an event on the same night. Road works still somewhat obscure the Embassy, road works that have been there for ten demos now! After an hour we began a loud chorus of "Free the Panchen Lama" and this continued for almost the entire rest of the demo. We all crossed the road and laid flowers. As we knew the flowers would be opposed by the forces protecting China we took the precaution of throwing some into Chinese territory (ie the fence, basement and windowsills). Five bunches winged their way towards the first floor flag balcony, but none quite had the strength to achieve that. We stayed directly outside the Embassy for some ten minutes, the chanting becoming more melodic, but returned to the other side of the road when asked. Four policemen then collected all the flowers and the many pictures of the Panchen Lama that were tied to the fence, and left them in the doorway. One attendee crossed the road to chat to the police and came back with the information that anyone who crossed the road again would be arrested. However we still had a lot of flowers left and so after a few minutes we all crossed the road again and this time quietly placed the flowers on the pavement close to the Embassy railings, an action that we continue to believe to be legitimate non-violent protest. There were no arrests. The police were altogether more friendly the at the previous Panchen Lama birthday demo, but whoever is giving them their orders regarding the flowers is manipulating the law to promote their own political agenda, namely selling arms to China under the guise of dialogue. Two attendees at the demo had been at the Berlin conference on Tibet, and Tibet Vigil will issue a report on this Web-site in due course. Simon 18/05/00