Local News

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ― Two days before the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, a Tibetan activist protesting China's human rights record was injured when she fell 15 feet while staging a mock hanging from the roof of the Chinese consulate in San Francisco.

Two women dressed in black monk's robes strung a rope from the roof of the building at 1450 Laguna Street Wednesday, holding banners that said, "Stop the Killing in Tibet" while other protesters from Students for a Free Tibet and the Tibetan Youth Congress waved signs on the ground below, police said.

The demonstrator hanging from the rope was hurt when the rope snapped and she fell to a balcony, from where she was rescued by firefighters about 9 a.m.

Four fire trucks and several police cars blocked the streets surrounding the consulate as the demonstrator, Nyendak Wangden, 22, of San Francisco, was lowered onto a gurney from an escape ladder. Wangden was taken to the trauma center at San Francisco General Hospital, according to Mindy Talmidge, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Fire Department.

"She didn't suffer any life-threatening injuries," said Talmidge, adding that Wangden was treated for a broken arm and later released from the hospital.
 
Wangden, described as an experienced climber, had been willing to take risks for the cause, said Students for a Free Tibet spokeswoman Yangchen Lhamo.

"We're just glad she did not sustain serious injuries,'' she added.

About a foot of climbing rope was still dangling from the side of the building as fire fighters took Wangden away.

Protesters claimed two or three consular personnel on the roof attacked the demonstrators and cut the rope, causing Wangden's fall.

San Francisco police, the State Department and the U.S. attorney's office were conducting a joint investigation of the incident. A police spokesman said he could not confirm if there was foul play involved.

"We can't say what the investigation entails," said Sgt. Wilfred Williams.

Chinese consular officials would not comment on whether personnel on the roof engaged with the protesters, but spokesman Defa Tong said that the protesters' "scheme was detected and checked by this consulate."

Consular officials were angry at the lack of protection that allowed the protesters to scale the building.

"The American side bears an unshirkable responsibility for this incident," said Tong.

Police were drawn to the scene when officers patrolling the area saw protesters gathering near the consulate, including three who had chained themselves together in front of the building. They were detained but immediately released. The other two protesters were detained as part of the investigation, and were being held Wednesday afternoon, Williams said.

Protesters who witnessed the fall were shaken.

"We were here to do something nonviolent, and now this," said Tenzin Khando, 22, of Salt Lake City. She wiped away tears as she watched firefighters load Wangden into one of their trucks.
 
Students for a Free Tibet is the same group that organized a climb on the Golden Gate Bridge in April in which three protesters scaled the bridge's cables and secured a sign to the bridge that read, "One World, One Dream: Free Tibet 08.''

Lhamo said Wednesday's protest marked the start of many protests nationwide that aim to show China that "people with freedom of speech will do everything to express outreach for the struggle they're facing.''

China's human rights record and its policies in Tibet have been a flash point for protests in China and around the world in the months leading up to the Summer Games. Activists used the Olympic torch's passage through San Francisco and other major cities to highlight their causes.

Demonstrations and discussions about the issue are continuing in the days leading up the game's opening ceremony Aug. 8.

World leaders are weighing China's economic might against its human rights record as they decide whether to attend the celebration. Protesters remain intent on turning the event into a public relations disaster for the host country.

Also Wednesday, throngs of protestors in San Jose held a rally outside the Santa Clara County administration building decrying alleged human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party.

Posters of battered Falun Gong members hung behind the podium as the protesters asked for help in changing the way the Chinese government treats its citizens.

The event not only coincided with the kickoff of the Olympic games but was also held in recognition of a resolution by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, who dubbed August "Human Rights for the People of China Month," according to organizers.

Tiananmen Square protester Feng Chongde, Supervisor Pete McHugh and other human rights activists spoke.

China, once slow to address criticism, has been condemning the various demonstrations as unfair attacks aimed at tarnishing the Olympic games.

(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)