A Montreal resident was among five Tibet activists arrested in China on Saturday following a demonstration in Tiananmen Square.
Chris Schwartz, 24, told Â鶹´«Ã½ he thought he had an obligation as a Canadian to speak out against human rights abuses.
The protest included a massive "die-off," in which demonstrators fell to the ground to symbolize Tibetans killed by Chinese authorities. Schwartz also draped himself in the Tibetan flag.
Plainclothes police officers quickly broke up the demonstration and four other activists were arrested: Diane Gatterdam, 55, Evan Silverman, 31, and Joan Roney, 39, all from New York; and, David Demes, 21, of Germany.
As police took the group away, Chinese onlookers shouted abuse and threw water bottles at the protesters.
All five have since been deported.
Activists are using the Olympics to raise awareness of what they say is Chinese repression in Tibet. Many Tibetans say they were independent before Chinese troops invaded the region in 1950.
Schwartz has taken part in previous Pro-Tibet rallies and was arrested in Toronto during a 2005 demonstration, according to The Canadian Press. He handcuffed himself to a bench and shouted "Free Tibet," ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's arrival at a Canada China Business Council dinner.
On Saturday, Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson said consular officials would do everything they could for Schwartz.
Meanwhile, another Canadian activist in Bejing contacted Â鶹´«Ã½ and said security officials had been following her. Like Schwartz, she had travelled to the city to speak out against China's control over Tibet.
"There's a lot of security," Maude Cote, a member of Students for a Free Tibet, told Chao. "People can't speak out freely."
After the interview, Chao reported that men inside a black car appeared to be following his vehicle, although it was not apparent they were government officials.
With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press
