Beijing: Hundreds of people today staged demonstrations in five major Chinese cities, including Beijing, protesting against supporters of Tibet independence movement in the West and calling for boycott of French goods.

The demonstrators gathered in front of outlets of French supermarket chain Carrefour chanting slogans for boycott of its and French products and against "Tibet independence".

Protests were held in Beijing, Hefei in the eastern Anhui province, Wuhan of central Hubei province, Qingdao of eastern Shandong province and Kunming in southwestern Yunnan province, official Xinhua news agency said.

A small group of people staged a protest march near the French Embassy carrying banners that read, "Tibet belongs to China" and "Shut up you French", and also the Beijing French School in the Chinese capital for about half an hour.

The protestors also distributed leaflets in the cities, In an outpouring of anger sparked off by disruption of the Olympic torch relay in Paris, London and other foreign cities and calls for boycott of the Beijing Olympics, online and text messages are being used by Chinese citizens to give boycott calls against Carrefour and other foreign retailers.

The anger was fuelled more by an attempt by a protestor in Paris to grab the torch from wheel-chair bound Paralympic athlete Jin Jing, who has become a household name after she blocked it.

Chinese citizens, particularly the Internet users, have been targeting Carrefour, which has 100 outlets across China, and French products with calls for their boycott. Some said it would send a message to the West that China should "not be humiliated and Chinese should not be bullied".

Source : PTI