"Stop threatening Taiwan, stop repressing Hong Kong, stop supporting [Vladimir] Putin (Russian President), stop interfering in France," read a large banner on Place de la Republique, the traditional venue for demonstrations in the French capital. Other placards read "Dictator Xi Jinping, your time is over" and "No to Chinese totalitarianism". Hundreds of demonstrators waved Tibetan flags, with the crowd repeatedly chanting "France, country of human rights", "Long live free Tibet" and "Free Tibet". Xi Jinping "is a dictator" who wants to destroy Tibetan culture and traditions, Karma Thinlay, the head of the Tibetan community in France, told AFP as the Chinese leader arrived in Paris on Sunday afternoon for a two-day visit. In China, "there is no freedom of expression, there is no freedom at all", he said, adding: "France is a country of human rights and freedoms and that is incompatible with the presence" of Xi Jinping. French President Emmanuel Macron is seeking to push for "reciprocity" in trade and a solution to the war in Ukraine in talks with a leader who has shown little appetite for EU demands. "Emmanuel Macron must be aware that it is impossible to do business with China calmly and serenely because China is a country where all rights are trampled on," Thinlay added. "There is more to life than the economy," he said, hoping that the French president would seize this "opportunity" to discuss the situation in Tibet, with a view to finding "a peaceful solution". Over the centuries, Tibet has alternated between periods of independence and control by China. The Dalai Lama, who lives in exile, has always refused to recognise Tibet as having been historically part of China, as Beijing claims, which has used this as a pretext to refuse dialogue with his representatives since 2010. Read Also: Xi Jinping arrives in Paris (to strengthen ties with Europe). The images (Portuguese version)