BEIJING (AFP) — China detained four more foreign pro-Tibet campaigners after a protest early Thursday near Beijing's main Olympic venue amid a "dramatic" increase in police surveillance, an activist group said.
The four were taken away in a police vehicle after three of them unfurled a Tibetan flag and called out "Free Tibet" near the Olympic stadium five minutes after midnight, Students for a Free Tibet said in a statement.
The protest of the four -- a Tibetan-German, two Americans and a Briton -- was the eighth since the Olympics began in the Chinese capital on August 8. The Games end on Sunday.
"Surveillance efforts by Chinese authorities increased dramatically over the past few days," Students For a Free Tibet said in the statement.
It said the four had been under surveillance by up to 50 plainclothes police.
"The Chinese government is petrified of these peaceful acts of defiance simply because they represent the true feelings of Tibetans inside Tibet," said Tenzin Dorjee, deputy director of Students for a Free Tibet.
"Our protests are a reminder to the world of the tragic reality of the Chinese government's illegitimate occupation of Tibet and the urgent need for the Chinese leadership to seek a resolution with the Tibetan people."
Students for a Free Tibet said the whereabouts of the four were unknown, adding an American artist and five other pro-Tibet activists also remained missing or were in detention after previous protest actions this week.
Beijing police headquarters did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.
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