SOME 10,000 Chinese Canadians and Chinese students joined a rally in Ottawa on Sunday to voice their anger at the violence perpetrated by Tibetan separatists in Lhasa and the distorted coverage of the event by Western media.

The peaceful three-hour rally, held on Parliament Hill, featured speeches, statements and patriotic songs, including China’s national anthem, which was sung repeatedly.

“No riots,” “No distortion,” “Do you know the true Tibet,” “Don’t mix sports and politics,” “We want our home in one piece,” “Tibet was, is and always will be a part of China...” chanted protesters, mostly dressed in red T-shirts printed with the map of China and the words “One China, One Family.”

The protesters urged Canada’s mainstream media to avoid biased reports and help the public see the real Tibet, as well as the true situation in China.

“During the past 20 years, China has seen great improvement in economic development, people’s living standards, political freedom and other fields,” said Lu Xu, from Toronto.

To judge human rights and other issues in China, the Western people should learn to see things from other perspectives, instead of imposing their own values on other countries, said Raymond Li, from Montreal.

Waving Chinese and Canadian flags, the protesters urged Prime Minister Stephen Harper to strengthen Sino-Canadian relationship. They also pledged to make all efforts to help sustain the strong bond between the two countries.

“As overseas Chinese, China is our motherland and Canada is our newly adopted home. We are proud of Vancouver hosting the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. We are equally proud of Beijing as the host of this year’s Summer Games. We want peace, we want the Beijing Olympics to succeed,” said Huang Xingzhong, leader of the Chinese community in Ottawa.

The rally, one of the biggest demonstrations by Chinese Canadians in some 50 years, involved members of Chinese communities from all across Canada. About 50 buses and more than 200 cars came from Toronto. Many people even flew thousands of kilometers from the western coastal city of Vancouver.

Meanwhile, the Olympic torch relay in Oman’s Muscat, the ninth stop of its global journey, started yesterday afternoon. About 1,500 people attended a ceremony to celebrate the event.(Xinhua)