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Demonstrators find bright side at UN rallies

By Huang Xiangyang (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-24 08:22

NEW YORK: The annual UN conclave has always been a good chance for protesters to get their voices heard, and Tuesday was no exception when the UN started its first summit on climate change, which drew more than 100 heads of state.

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But among the hundreds of demonstrators who want to topple governments, overthrow parties or seek independence, there are some small groups who seek to strike a more positive tune.

Zhao Zhihong, a member of a vegetarian group, quietly sat beside placards calling for plant-based diets. "Be Veg Go Green" is the message she wants to send. Her group believes that meat-eating is a major cause of global warming, a problem bigwigs are trying to sort out at the UN summit.

"Why should people eat them, just because animals are weaker? Will people eat their own children?"

Her group's small presence did not draw much media attention, but Zhao said it did not matter. "We have done our part. My heart will be at ease when I die."

Sri Lankan Nanda Ranasingha, president of Sri Lanka Freedom Party US branch, led a small group shouting slogans and waving banners - not against but for their government.

"My country was plagued in a civil war for 30 years, I repeat, 30 years. But our current leader solved the problem in less then three years," he said.

"We want people to know that Sri Lanka is now a land of peace." Ranasingha said his group was not funded by the Sri Lanka government.