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WASHINGTON — <\/span>President Donald Trump warmly welcomed<\/a> Chinese leader Xi Jinping with a personal airport greeting, a tour of his new helipad<\/a> and a candlelit dinner. But outside the White House, protests against Xi continued almost nonstop Thursday during his state visit.<\/p>\n The demonstrators represented a range of causes, from calls for religious autonomy and greater freedoms in Tibet<\/a>, Hong Kong and the ethnic region of Xinjiang<\/a> to demands to keep China out of self-governed Taiwan.<\/p>\n Protests against visiting Chinese leaders are nothing new \u2014 in 2006, a woman heckled Xi’s predecessor Hu Jintao at a White House welcome ceremony \u2014 but Xi has become the focus of attacks for his tough approach to tightening control over Xinjiang, Hong Kong and other regions and the Chinese military’s growing threats to Taiwan, which he says must come under Chinese rule.<\/p>\n Crowds gathered behind a fence along Lafayette Park, waving flags and holding signs. Loudspeakers carried their voices across the park to the White House\u2019s North Portico, where an honor guard and a red carpet awaited guests attending the state dinner<\/a>.<\/p>\n The crowd chanted, \u201cXi Jinping has got to go\u201d and \u201cShame! Shame on Xi Jinping!\u201d The chants grew louder throughout the ceremony.<\/p>\n Pro-China demonstrators also turned out in Washington. Around 200 supporters of Xi gathered outside the hotel where he was staying, waving Chinese and American flags and chanting, \u201cWelcome, welcome, a warm welcome.\u201d They had banners reading, \u201cA warm welcome to Chairman Xi on his visit to the U.S.\u201d and \u201cHello, Uncle Xi.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, protesters of the Xi’s government gathered outside the Chinese Embassy in the morning before marching through the city. By late afternoon, a few hundred people gathered at a park near the White House to \u201cunwelcome\u201d Xi.<\/p>\n Many waved Tibetan flags and called for a \u201cFree Tibet.\u201d Others carried flags bearing the Chinese words for \u201cfreedom\u201d and \u201cdemocracy,\u201d along with signs reading, \u201cKeep Taiwan Free\u201d and \u201cLiberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,\u201d a slogan associated with Hong Kong\u2019s mass protests<\/a> in 2019.<\/p>\n Anjali Tenzin Sonn, 17, joined a mostly Tibetan group calling for a free Tibet outside the U.S. Capitol. She said she felt compelled to participate after growing up hearing stories about her mother fleeing Tibet on foot and her grandfather suffering as a political prisoner. She described the protest as \u201cinspirational.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI hope Emperor Xi won\u2019t remain in power. I hope he can give Chinese people real freedom \u2014 freedom of speech and religion,\u201d said Zhang Na, a 31-year-old warehouse worker in Los Angeles who traveled to the same protest. <\/p>\n Zhang said she became weary of China\u2019s prolonged COVID-19 lockdowns and flew to Ecuador three years ago before walking to the United States through the southern border.<\/p>\n Yang Fan, a 39-year-old Christian, attended with his wife and daughter and held a handwritten sign calling for \u201cfreedom of religion\u201d and an \u201cend to dictatorship.\u201d He said he wanted to stand up for Christians in China and hoped Xi would release those imprisoned for their religious beliefs<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI would like to see the liberation of Hong Kong and the complete restoration of its freedoms,\u201d said Melody Calkins, 30, who spent much of her childhood in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n