(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-20 09:55

PARIS -- A peaceful demonstration was held in downtown Paris on Saturday, in which nearly 10,000 Chinese expatriates and students in France expressed support for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and their anger at distorted media reports about the recent Lhasa riots.

The rally, starting from midday at the Place de la Republique square, was the biggest ever staged by the overseas Chinese in France in nearly 20 years, organizers said.

The demonstrators, dressed in red T-shirts with the slogan "Olympic Games is a bridge, not a wall," waved both Chinese and French national flags and chanted patriotic songs.

The demonstration was aimed at voicing the Chinese expatriates' support for the 2008 Beijing Olympics -- "a bridge of friendship."

They also protested against the stance of some French media which have provided false information on the relay of the Olympic Torch and distorted reports of the March 14 riots in Lhasa, capital of China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

Some French people also took part in the demonstration. "I like Beijing, I support Beijing Olympics, and Olympics should not be related to politics," one of the French participants said.