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With blackout, China cracks down on largest Tibet protests in 20 yrs

With blackout, China cracks down on largest Tibet protests in 20 yrs

Author:
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: March 15, 2008
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/284722.html

Introduction: Curfew imposed in most parts of Lhasa; Beijing under pressure months before Olympics

Violent protests erupted on Friday in a busy market area of Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, as Buddhist monks and other ethnic Tibetans clashed with Chinese security forces. The protesters burned shops, cars, military vehicles and at least one tourist bus, according to witnesses.

The demonstrations were the most violent since protests by Buddhist monks began in Lhasa on Monday, the anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. The protests have been the largest in Tibet since the late 1980s, when Chinese security forces repeatedly used lethal force to restore order in the region.

The developments prompted the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, to issue a statement saying he was concerned about the situation and appealing to the Chinese leadership to "stop using force and address the long-simmering resentment of the Tibetan people".

By Friday night, the Chinese authorities had placed much of the central part of the city under a curfew, including neighborhoods around different Buddhist monasteries, according to two Lhasa residents reached by telephone. The military police were blocking roads in some ethnic Tibetan neighborhoods, several Lhasa residents said.

The United States Embassy in Beijing warned American citizens to stay away from Lhasa. The embassy said it had "received first-hand reports from American citizens in the city who report gunfire and other indications of violence."

The Chinese government's official news agency, Xinhua, issued a two-sentence bulletin in English confirming that shops in Lhasa had been set on fire and that other stores had closed because of violence on the streets. But the Chinese news media otherwise carried no news about the protests. The White House responded with expressions of concern, but not direct criticism, although it urged the Chinese authorities to use restraint.

"We believe Beijing needs to respect Tibetan culture, needs to respect multi-ethnicity in their society," a spokesman, Tony Fratto, said while traveling with President George W Bush to New York. "We regret the tensions between ethnic groups and Beijing."
The White House said the American ambassador in Beijing, Clark T Randt Jr, in his contacts with the Chinese authorities, had urged restraint.

The disturbances appear to be turning into a major problem for the ruling Communist Party, which is holding its annual meeting of the National People's Congress this week in Beijing. China is eager to present a harmonious image to the rest of the world as Beijing prepares to play host to the Olympic Games in August.

Information emerging about Friday's protests was scattered and hard to verify. But witnesses in Lhasa said the violence erupted on Friday morning at the Tromsikhang Market, a massive concrete structure built in the old Tibetan section of the city by Chinese authorities in the early 1990s. "It's chaos in the streets," said a person who answered the telephone at a bread shop near the market.

The demonstrations apparently expanded as protesters set fire to other shops. Western news agencies reported that monks from the Ramoche Temple went into the streets and clashed with police officers. "The monks are still protesting," one witness told AP. "Police and army cars were burned. There are people crying. Hundreds of people, including monks and civilians, are in the protests."

Another Lhasa resident reached by telephone described Friday's protests as the most violent of the week. "There have been several riots in recent days," said Liu, who would give only her surname. She said friends who had seen the riots described them to her. "Today's riot is more serious," she said. "I have a full-time job in a state-owned company, and we got notice from our superiors not to go watch the riots."


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