Police investigate woman who staged solo protest in front of Chinese embassy in Singapore
The woman, identified by the name Kelly on Twitter, posted that she was outside the Chinese embassy on Nov 28, 2022. (Photos: Twitter/@kellymilkies)
SINGAPORE: Police on Tuesday (Nov 29) said they are investigating a woman for allegedly taking part in a public assembly outside the Chinese embassy without a permit.
They said they were alerted to the incident at about 1pm on Monday.
The 32-year-old was allegedly staging a protest related to issues in China.
“We directed the woman to stop her protest and she complied,” police said.
CNA understands that the woman goes by the handle @kellymilkies on Twitter. The account, which has more than 24,000 followers and 33,500 tweets, has been posting content related to protests in China in recent days.
At around 4am on Monday, she tweeted that she had planned to be at the embassy from 11am to 3pm later that day.
Then at midday, she posted photos of handwritten signs in English and Chinese with the caption: “I am alone outside the Embassy of China in Singapore @ 150 Tanglin Road”.
In a subsequent update at 4.13pm, she tweeted that police officers had gone to where she was.
“I am okay but I won’t have access to my comms devices in the meantime,” the tweet said.
The next day at 6am, she posted another tweet saying that she had made the decision to go to the embassy after “reading/listening to all the cruelty and infringe (sic) on basic human rights in China”.
Over the weekend, protests broke out in several cities in China, including Shanghai and Beijing, over harsh COVID-19 rules and a deadly fire in Xinjiang that was linked to the enforcement of such rules.
POLICE REMINDER
Police reminded members of the public that organising or participating in a public assembly without a police permit is an offence under the Public Order Act.
“Separately, the Police have received queries about foreigners in Singapore advocating for causes relating to issues in China through for example the display of posters,” it added.
“Foreigners visiting, working or living in Singapore should not import the politics of their countries into Singapore, and are reminded to abide by our laws.”
