On September 24, 2026, more than 3,000 protesters—including Tibetans, Uyghurs, Hong Kongers, and Chinese dissidents—gathered in Washington, D.C., to protest Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the White House. Organizers described the massive demonstration as the largest-ever Tibetan rally in North America.
The protests took place as President Donald Trump welcomed Xi to the White House for high-stakes talks covering artificial intelligence, trade, and disputes over Taiwan, Iran, and rare earths. The state visit, Xi's first to the U.S. capital in more than a decade, concluded with a formal state dinner hosted by Trump on Thursday evening.
Outside the diplomatic venues, a diverse coalition of advocacy groups made their voices heard. Tencho Gyatso, president of the International Campaign for Tibet, emphasized that human rights must remain central to the bilateral discussions. 'The Tibetans, the Uyghurs, the Hong Kongers, the Taiwanese, we want to make sure our voices are also heard there,' Gyatso said.
The demonstration began at approximately 9 a.m. outside the Chinese Embassy. Protesters then marched through the capital, forcing the temporary closure of Connecticut Avenue to accommodate the crowd. Waving Tibetan national flags and carrying banners reading 'Xi Jinping is guilty of genocide' and 'Tibet was never a part of China,' the marchers passed through Dupont Circle before assembling at the U.S. Capitol, where several prominent speakers addressed them.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Representative Jim McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, joined the demonstrators at the Capitol. McGovern urged Trump to raise human rights concerns directly with Xi, chanting, 'No Xi in D.C. without human rights.' He also criticized Republican lawmakers for failing to join efforts pressuring the administration on these issues. 'Are they afraid of Donald Trump? Are they afraid he’ll be offended if they ask him to ask Xi to release prisoners of conscience?' McGovern asked the crowd. Pelosi also spoke in solidarity with the protesters, calling for the release of prisoners of conscience and highlighting ongoing human rights abuses in Tibet.
The rally held deep emotional significance for many Tibetan participants following the recent death of Lobga Rangzen, a 52-year-old Tibetan independence activist. Rangzen died after self-immolating outside the United Nations headquarters in New York on July 2, leaving a final message calling for Tibetan independence and unity. To honor his sacrifice and raise awareness, a group of 17 Tibetans set off on foot from the UN headquarters on September 17, walking through Philadelphia before arriving in Washington on September 23, the same day Xi landed in the country.
One of the walkers, Rangzen Dolkar, explained the personal sacrifice involved in the journey. 'I am a mother of two kids, and I left my kids home. We all took off from work and left on this journey,' she said, noting that the march gave them opportunities to explain Pawo Lobga Rangzen's sacrifice to curious onlookers. 'Pawo' is an honorary title given to individuals who sacrifice their lives through self-immolation for the Tibetan cause.
Jigme Ugen, president of the Tibetan National Congress, stated that the historic turnout proved the resilience of the independence movement. 'This is the biggest gathering, as such, to not just protest Xi Jinping, but also to tell the world and the U.S. government that the Tibetan movement, and the call for Tibetan independence, is still very much alive,' Ugen said. Tsering Chomphel, president of the Tibetan Youth Congress, which organized the rally with support from other activist groups, traveled from India for the event. He noted that participants had traveled from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Vermont, and Toronto.
Following the Capitol rally, the demonstrators marched to Franklin Park, located half a mile from the White House. There, representatives from various communities addressed the crowd. Misran Dolan, president of the Uyghur American Association, which brought about 200 members to the protest, called for unified resistance. 'Free the Uyghurs. Free the Tibetans. Keep Taiwan free. Keep Hong Kong free. Keep China free,' Dolan declared, emphasizing the shared struggle for political and religious freedom.
Chinese democracy activists also joined the coalition. Zheng Zhou, a member of the Democratic Party of China, traveled from Los Angeles with approximately 50 other members. Zhou demanded that Xi end political persecution and release prominent political prisoners, including Jimmy Lai and Ding Jiaxi. Lai, the billionaire founder of Hong Kong's pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in February 2026 after being convicted of conspiracy to commit sedition and collusion with foreign forces. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had previously condemned the sentence as unjust and urged the Chinese government to grant Lai humanitarian parole.
Religious persecution was another focal point. Daniel Zhou, a Chinese Christian representing an underground church, spoke about the detention of religious leaders in China. Additionally, Cynthia Sun, a senior researcher at the Falun Dafa Information Center, spoke out against the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, which has been active since the practice was banned in July 1999. Sun highlighted allegations of forced organ harvesting, referencing the 2019 findings of the China Tribunal, which concluded that imprisoned practitioners were likely the primary source for a significant scale of forced organ harvesting in China.
As the evening progressed, the protesters marched toward the White House. Metropolitan Police officers established barricades near 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue to separate the demonstrators from a counter-group of pro-Xi supporters carrying Chinese flags. While the two factions engaged in a loud shouting match across the street, police successfully prevented any physical altercations. Inside the White House, the state dinner continued, while outside, activists vowed to keep the focus on human rights. Jigme Ugen emphasized that the U.S. already has strong legislation on the books, such as the Tibetan Policy and Support Act signed by Trump in 2020. 'The U.S. government already has enough laws that have been passed by Congress, and all they need to do is to actually stand on those,' Ugen said.
