Freedom, how long will it last?

Dr Norman waved the Tibetan flag and called “freedom for Tibet” as the Chinese delegation walked by, a scuffle broke out as an umbrella was shoved over him and the flag forcibly removed from his grasp then thrown to the ground. Norman emerged with a bleeding hand but made his message heard. ======================= China-Style Security Doesn’t Travel Well An incident in New Zealand has ignited fresh controversy about the behavior of Chinese security personnel on foreign soil when confronted by pro-Tibet protests. Reuters Green Party MP Russel Norman, holding a Tibetan flag, gets it torn from his hands by members of China Russel Norman, co-leader of New Zealand’s Green Party and a member of parliament, says he was “assaulted” by Chinese security personnel accompanying Vice President Xi Jinping, who was in the Land of the Long White Cloud on Friday as part of a four-nation trip. The altercation occurred outside a parliamentary building called the Beehive in the Kiwi capital of Wellington. Video footage shown on New Zealand station TV ONE shows clearly a scuffle and tempers flaring. As the New Zealand parliamentary speaker greets Xi several meters away, Norman begins waving a Tibetan flag and hollering “Freedom for Tibet. Freedom for the people of Tibet.” A suit-clad member of Xi’s entourage opens an umbrella in front of the flag—a favorite tactic tactic of Chinese security forces to obscure unsightly political expression. Norman says they also elbowed him. Another member of …