In another protest at the White House, hundreds of pro-Tibet activists gathered on Monday as part of the “Global Day of Action” for Tibet. Tserin Palden, president of the Tibetan Youth Congress of New York and New Jersey, called on the US government to boycott the opening ceremony of the Olympic games in Beijing in August.

Tserin Palden: “The US government can ask your Olympic team to at least boycott the opening ceremony. In that way, the athletes can — at least they get to play the game, they don’t miss the game, but still it gets some pressure on China, and it also gets that US is not happy with what China is doing in Tibet. And then, United States has always recognized Tibet as an occupied country, so I think they should keep on with that point, and they should pressure China for releasing Tibet back to the Tibetan people.”

On Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also suggested President Bush should consider boycotting the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.