US: San Francisco activists display 'Free Tibet' banner ahead of Xi Jinping's visit

The banner also had “Dictator Xi Jinping, Your Time is Up!” written on it.

The protest comes just days before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit which the Chinese President is scheduled to attend, Phayul reported.

The incident had a significant presence on social media platforms, with pictures and videos quickly going viral. In a widely shared video on Twitter, activists can be heard chanting “Free Tibet”, the news portal reported.

The San Francisco chapter of Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) posted on X: " 3 Tibetan youth activists drop a banner on the Moscone Center where the APEC Summit will start in <24hrs."

"Xi can’t hide from the countless people united against his authoritarian regime," post said. "Generations of Tibetans will always resist his dictatorship until Tibet is free," the post further said.

Tenzin Namgyal, a 17-year-old Tibetan-American activist who was part of the unfurling was quoted as saying by Phayul, “Since China’s President Xi last visited the US Tibetans have witnessed our language, religion and culture come under direct attack from Xi’s genocidal policies and we are facing the elimination of our distinct Tibetan language, culture and identity if the world doesn’t act.”