Nepal police halt Tibet protest

Source: BBC
Nepalese police have arrested more than 100 Tibetan exiles and Buddhist monks who were trying to storm an office of the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu.

The protesters were beaten back from the fortified compound by police armed with bamboo batons. A Tibetan activist said a girl and a monk were badly hurt.

The anti-China demonstration was the third in the past week in the capital, which is home to thousands of Tibetans.

Earlier, the UN said the mass arrests violated rights to peaceful assembly.

The BBC Charles Haviland in Kathmandu says the authorities in Nepal have been adopting a "zero tolerance" attitude to Tibetan demonstrations for fear of annoying the country's powerful neighbour, China.

Tibet's government-in-exile says about 140 people were killed in a crackdown by Chinese security forces after protests against Chinese rule began in Tibet two weeks ago. Beijing disputes this, saying 19 people were killed by rioters.

In the most recent demonstration in Kathmandu, Tibetan exiles and their children tried to gain entry to the Chinese embassy's visa office near the city centre.

Shouting "stop the killing", the protesters attempted to open the office's metal gate before they were repulsed by a police baton charge.

Police sources told the BBC that 113 people were arrested outside the embassy and taken to a police barracks.

A Tibetan activist said more than 80 of those held were Buddhists monks or nuns, although he said many were wearing ordinary clothing to try to avoid being targeted by police.

A girl and a monk had been badly hurt and taken to hospital, he said.

The police said some of the injured were being treated and that everyone would be released later in the day. On most days, those arrested have been released after nightfall.

Earlier, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal said the constant mass arrests violated internationally recognised rights to peaceful assembly and to freedom of expression - rights to which Nepal is a signatory.

Nepal's government has said it cannot allow the protests because it recognises Tibet as an integral part of China.

Chinese security forces seal off Tibet capital

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese security forces sealed off parts of Lhasa on Saturday and Tibet's government-in-exile said it was investigating reports of fresh protests, weeks after the city was shaken by an anti-government riot.

The reports coincided with a visit by a group of diplomats, who were led on a closely guarded tour of the city that has been at the heart of unrest throughout China's ethnic Tibetan regions just months before the opening of the Beijing Olympics.

"We don't know how many people, but it seems it's quite a lot of people," Tenzin Taklha, a spokesman for the Dalai Lama said of the events in Lhasa. "I think it's timed with the visit of the diplomats."

The London-based International Campaign for Tibet said it had heard from three sources that security forces had surrounded Lhasa's main temples, Jokhang and Ramoche.

"The whole area has been shut down," said the group's spokeswoman, Kate Saunders.

"I don't know what form the protest took. I think people in Lhasa may have been aware of the diplomats' visit, just as they were aware of the journalists' visit," she said.

Earlier this week, the government took select foreign media to Lhasa to highlight the wreckage and give the impression that the city was returning to normal, but the plan backfired when about 30 monks at Jokhang stormed an official news briefing.

The monks complained about a lack of religious freedom and voiced support for the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism who lives in exile and who China accuses of masterminding the unrest.

The trouble in the remote, mountain region that China's Communist troops entered in 1950 began with a series of peaceful, monk-led protests that culminated in a riot in Lhasa on March 14. Protests have since hit other Tibetan areas of China.

COMPENSATION

On Saturday, China offered to pay compensation to the families of the 18 civilians it says died in the Lhasa violence. The Dalai Lama's representatives, which deny he is orchestrating the demonstrations, say the death toll is closer to 140.

The government does not permit free access to the areas, making the reports difficult to check. Chinese media has portrayed the violence on March 14 as a riot by a Tibetan mob beating up innocent people, many of them ethnic Chinese.

Their families would each receive 200,000 yuan ($28,530), a notice from Tibet's regional government said.

"Measures are to be taken to help people repair their homes and shops damaged in the unrest or to build new ones," the state-run Xinhua news agency quoted it as saying.

Pressure also grew from abroad for China to respect human rights in its response to the unrest, with U.S. President George W. Bush calling on Chinese leaders to talk to representatives of the Dalai Lama.

The rash of anti-Chinese protests, and China's response, have become a focus of global concern months before the Olympics. Beijing hopes the Games that start in August will be a chance to showcase the world's fourth biggest economy.

Since the unrest, China has been on a propaganda offensive, attacking foreign media for biased reporting, quoting Buddhist clergy condemning the riots and highlighting the material gains the ruling Communist Party has brought to Tibet.

At a news conference in Delhi on Saturday, the Dalai Lama accused Beijing of pumping out propaganda that exaggerated Tibetan violence while playing down the harshness of the Chinese reaction. "Some respected, neutral people should go (to Tibet), investigate thoroughly with complete freedom," he said.

ACCESS

China offered diplomats from a dozen countries a closely monitored 21-hour tour of Lhasa, a Western embassy representative said. Two countries declined the invitation.

A U.S. diplomat on the tour urged the Chinese government to grant the media and foreign envoys more access to Tibet.

"The trip was heavily scheduled, and neither the U.S. nor other participants were able to deviate from the official itinerary," the embassy said in a statement.

Bush urged China to exercise restraint and the Chinese government, led by President and Communist Party chief Hu Jintao, to meet the Dalai Lama' representatives.

European Union foreign ministers also urged China on Saturday to hold a dialogue on Tibetan cultural and religious rights. But they avoided linking the issue to the Olympics after public differences over whether to boycott the opening ceremony.

China has said it is open to discussions as long as the Dalai Lama stops supporting Tibet and Taiwan independence, and ends his support for the protests and anti-Olympics activities.

The Nobel Peace Prize-winning monk says he only wants greater autonomy for Tibet within China.

Underscoring U.S. concerns, the first senior U.S. official scheduled to meet Chinese leaders since the protests erupted this month, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, will raise Tibet in Beijing next week, a treasury official said.

On Sunday, the Olympic flame will be handed to Chinese Games organizers in Athens, and Tibetan exiles have vowed to stage protests. Activists disrupted the torch-lighting ceremony earlier this week. The torch is due to arrive in Beijing on Monday

Bush Relays US Concerns Over Tibet in Call to China's President

President Bush telephoned Chinese President Hu Jintao Wednesday to talk about Tibet, Taiwan, and North Korea. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns has the story.

U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley says President Bush expressed his concern about the violence in Tibet and encouraged the Chinese government to resume talks with representatives of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

"The president pushed very hard on the need to be concerned about violence in Tibet, the need for restraint, the need for consultations with representatives of the Dalai Lama," he said.

Beijing blames the Dalai Lama for orchestrating the violence and says rioters are responsible for the deaths of at least 20 civilians. Tibetan exile groups say at least 140 people were killed when Chinese police used force to stop rallies earlier this month marking the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.

White House officials say President Bush pressed the Chinese leader to allow journalists to return to the area. Chinese authorities escorted 26 reporters to the Tibetan capital Wednesday for a tightly-controlled media tour.

The Dalai Lama welcomed the visit by journalists and expressed hope that they would be given complete freedom to understand, as he put it, the "real situation in Tibet," which Beijing has claimed as part of China since 1951.

National Security Adviser Hadley says President Bush and President Hu also discussed this past Saturday's elections in Taiwan.

"The Taiwanese election presents an opportunity to encourage China to reach out to Taiwan and to try to resolve differences, and the president did not want to let that go by," he said.

In a statement congratulating the people of Taiwan, President Bush said he is confident that democracy on the island will advance Taiwan as a prosperous, secure and well-governed society.

He again called on both Taiwan and Beijing to refrain from unilateral action to alter the current situation, saying peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the welfare of the people of Taiwan are of profound importance to the United States.

Hadley says President Bush thanked President Hu for the important role China has played in multi-lateral efforts to convince North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program. The two vowed to continue working together to urge North Korea to deliver a full declaration of its nuclear program as promised.

The White House says President Bush also expressed his concern that the military regime in Burma intends to hold a referendum that was drafted without input from democratic or ethnic minority groups. Mr. Bush discussed with Mr. Hu the need for Burmese leaders to make changes to the referendum process to make it free, fair, and credible to the Burmese people and the international community.

Bush Silent, but Others Speak Out on Tibet Crackdown

WASHINGTON — China’s violent crackdown on protesters in Tibet is having powerful political reverberations in Washington, where the White House is weighing how far to go in condemning the Chinese government, even as it defends President Bush’s decision to attend the Summer Olympics in Beijing.

China Shows Photos of Tibetan Protesters (March 22, 2008) Mr. Bush has long said the United States and China have “a complex relationship,” and that complexity was on full display this week. While his administration has called for an end to the violence, and his secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, phoned her Chinese counterpart to urge restraint, Mr. Bush himself has remained silent.

In the meantime, the presidential candidates are speaking out, as is the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. On Friday, Ms. Pelosi visited the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, at his headquarters in Dharamsala, India — and poked a finger in the eye of Beijing.

Describing the clashes in the past week between Chinese security forces and Tibetan demonstrators as “a challenge to conscience of the world,” Ms. Pelosi, Democrat of California, said, “If freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China’s oppression in China and Tibet, we have lost all moral authority to speak on behalf of human rights anywhere in the world.”

If it seemed like a direct challenge to Mr. Bush, he did not take the bait.

“At this point, there is no doubt that the Chinese government knows where President Bush stands,” said Gordon D. Johndroe, a White House spokesman. He said the White House had no comment on Ms. Pelosi’s visit.

The Dalai Lama has lived in exile in India since 1959, when China crushed an uprising in Tibet, his homeland. He has been pressing, without success, to return to China to advocate for greater cultural and religious freedom for his followers. China, though, has branded him a “splittist” and has accused him of masterminding the current wave of protests — a charge Ms. Pelosi dismissed as nonsense on Friday.

It was unclear what Ms. Pelosi’s visit would yield for Tibetans. But for Ms. Pelosi, the timing was propitious. In front of a horde of television news cameras that had decamped all week to cover the Dalai Lama, she and her husband, Paul, descended the stairs of the main temple to huge applause, the 72-year-old Buddhist monk between them, holding their hands.

Nuns and schoolchildren waved American flags. The Dalai Lama ordered his followers to rise and offer Ms. Pelosi a standing ovation. One man held up a homemade placard that read, “Thank you for recognizing nonviolent struggle.”

The visit provoked a tart response from the Chinese ambassador to India, who depicted it as American interference. “We don’t allow anybody to meddle in China’s internal affairs,” the ambassador, Zhang Yan, told reporters in New Delhi, according to The Press Trust of India. “Any attempt to cause trouble to China is doomed to fail.”

Ms. Pelosi is hardly the only American politician taking China to task. On Friday, Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, traveling in France, warned that China’s behavior was “not acceptable” for a world power. Earlier in the week, Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, the two Democratic presidential contenders, issued strong criticisms of China.

Mr. Bush, too, has made a strong show of solidarity with the Dalai Lama. In October, he met privately with the Tibetan leader at the White House and then attended a ceremony at the Capitol, where the Dalai Lama was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. It was the first time the two had appeared in public together, and the White House was well aware of the symbolism.

China analysts say the violence in Tibet demands that the president chart a careful course. “I think to the extent that he can work the issue privately, it’s better, frankly,” said Jeffrey A. Bader, an Asia specialist who worked at the National Security Council under President Clinton. “The public statements just make the Chinese dig in their heels all the more, make them more resolute in their repression.”

American presidents have historically found relations with China to be a delicate dance. But none more so than Mr. Bush, especially since September, when he met with China’s president, Hu Jintao, in Sydney, Australia, and accepted Mr. Hu’s invitation to attend the Beijing Olympics.

Mr. Bush has said that he wants to support American athletes and views the Games as a sporting event, but that he will use his attendance to put pressure on China to improve its human rights record. But human rights advocates have linked the Olympics with violence in the Darfur region of Sudan and have accused Mr. Bush of giving his imprimatur to a country that, in their view, is not exerting enough influence as a major buyer of Sudanese oil to stop what the White House has termed a genocide.

On Capitol Hill, two representatives, Dana Rohrabacher, Republican of California, and Neil Abercrombie, Democrat of Hawaii, are leading a push for a boycott of the Beijing Games. China analysts, though, say Mr. Bush has little choice but to attend, even if it means a political backlash at home.

“This is China’s coming out party,” said Michael Green, an Asia expert and former Bush administration official. “If he were to cancel, it would be such a loss of face for China that it would make working with them on issues from North Korea to human rights much more difficult.”

So far, Mr. Bush has stood firm.

“I’m going to the Olympics,” the president said last month, when Steven Spielberg, the filmmaker, announced that he was dropping out as an artistic adviser for the Games. “I view the Olympics as a sporting event. On the other hand, I have a little different platform than Steven Spielberg, so I get to talk to President Hu Jintao.”

If the violence in Tibet grows, however, the pressure could increase for Mr. Bush to take some kind of symbolic stand. The French foreign minister said this week that he would entertain the idea of skipping the Olympics opening ceremony — a symbolic gesture that would be less than a full boycott. Mr. Johndroe said such a step was not under discussion at the White House.

“We’re focused on ending the violence now,” he said, “not an event six months from now.”

Sheryl Gay Stolberg reported from Washington, and Somini Sengupta from Dharamsala, India.

Pelosi meets Dalai Lama to express support

Friday, March 21, 2008 (New Delhi)
Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives has met the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala and expressed support to Tibet's freedom.

Pelosi has been an outspoken supporter of Tibet's fight for freedom and has strongly criticised China's crackdown on Tibet.

Speaking of the violence in Tibet, she said the situation of Tibet is a challenge to the conscience of the world and that if the world doesn't speak for Tibet today, it loses all moral ground to speak of human rights.

Last week, the speaker had issued a strong statement on China's handling of the protests calling the ''violent response'' by the Chinese police against peaceful protestors ''disgraceful''.

However, China has strongly reacted to her visit, saying that the Tibet issue is China's internal matter and no country or person should interfere in it. The Chinese Ambassador to India Zhang Yang said that what happened inside china was no one else's business.

Pelosi also met the Indian Prime Minister and other officials on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the visiting US parliamentarian has demanded an independent, outside inquiry to check the veracity of Chinese accusation that the Dalai Lama is behind Tibet violence. (With PTI inputs)

Nancy Pelosi set to meet Dalai Lama, China protests

NEW DELHI: Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi is all set to meet and hold discussions with the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala on Friday even as Beijing expressed its strong opposition to the meeting.

The speaker, who is heading a delegation of top Republican and Democrat Congress members including Ed Markey, a strong critic of the nuclear deal, on Thursday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who hosted a lunch for her. She then held discussions with external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee. The Indo-US civilian nuclear deal and the Tibet issue clearly figured in the discussions.

But it is her visit to Dharamsala which is being watched closely and with interest by China and the government here. Ms Pelosi is the first high profile US visitor to Dharamsala and her visit is expected to send a strong signal to China that it must begin talking to the Dalai Lama.

In this acrimonious atmosphere, Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Dharamsala assumes significance. The Bush administration has also been urging China to begin talking to the Dalai Lama and believes that a solution to the Tibetan crisis cannot come by without the Dalai Lama.

Ms Pelosi incidentally is also a strong and outspoken supporter of Tibetan rights and lobbied hard for awarding the US Congressional gold medal to the Dalai Lama. Last week, the speaker had issued a strong statement criticising China’s handling of the protests calling the “violent response’’ by the Chinese police against “peaceful protestors...disgraceful.’’

She is being given the red carpet treatment in Dharamsala with a welcome reception being organised for her by the Tibetan government in exile. After the reception she has been granted a audience with the Dalai Lama. She is expected to release a statement after her meeting with the Dalai Lama. The government here is watching the visit and has made no attempts to dissuade the Speaker from traveling to Dharamsala.

China has already criticised the meeting and at a foreign office briefing on Thursday said that it ``firmly opposed any official of any country meeting with Dalai (Lama)’’. Indicating that talks between Beijing and the Dalai Lama are not anywhere on the cards right now, the Chinese foreign office spokesperson called the Dalai Lama ``a political exile engaged in activities aimed at splitting the motherland and undermining national unity under the pretext of religion.’’

The spokesperson also set pre conditions for talks and has asked the Dalai Lama to abandon the “proposition of independence” of Tibet and cease his “separatist activities”.

Even though the Dalai Lama is no longer seeking independence, the Chinese spokesperson said that the spiritual leader’s actions speak otherwise. He also expressed ``grave concerns’’ over British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s proposed meeting with the Dalai Lama.

In spite of the response from China, the Dalai Lama said he is ready for talks with Chinese leaders and is even willing to travel to Beijing after the violence dissipates. He asked the international community to help lobby the Chinese government to start a dialogue with him.

“Still, if concrete indications come from China, sure I will be happy,” he said, adding “when time comes to go there I am ready after this crisis — in a few weeks, in a few months.” He also expressed fears that there are a ``lot of casualties” from China’s crackdown.

“We don’t know exact numbers. Some say six, some say 100, but places have been cut off. There are movements of Chinese troops. I am really worried a lot of casualties have happened,” he said.

Brown to meet Dalai Lama; China voices concern

LONDON (AFP) — Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Wednesday he would meet the Dalai Lama, who is expected in London in May, a move swiftly welcomed by pro-Tibet activists but sternly challenged by Beijing.

The Chinese government said it was "seriously concerned" at Brown's announcement, the official Xinhua news agency reported, threatening to cool the warm relations the prime minister established on a recent trip there.

"As we have repeatedly pointed out, Dalai is a political refugee engaged in activities of splitting China under the camouflage of religion," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang was quoted as saying.

But the Dalai Lama's representative in Britain, Tsering Tashin, told Channel 4 News: "This is the standard official Chinese statement. If anything happens they make this sort of statement."

"The most important thing for China is to recognise that there is a real problem inside Tibet."

Brown's confirmation came after he spoke by telephone to Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao and pressed him to end violence in Tibet, which has triggered a swift clampdown by Chinese authorities.

The Chinese premier had assured him he was willing to hold talks with the Dalai Lama under two conditions, he added.

"I made it absolutely clear that there had to be an end to violence in Tibet... I called for an end to the violence by dialogue between the different parties," he told parliament during his weekly question period.

"The premier told me that, subject to two things that the Dalai Lama has already said -- that he does not support the total independence of Tibet, and that he renounces violence -- that he would be prepared to enter into dialogue with the Dalai Lama."

"I will meet the Dalai Lama when he is in London," he added.

A spokesman for Brown's office could not say when the Dalai Lama might be coming, but the Tibetan leader is due to be in London on May 22 for an event at the Royal Albert Hall, a spokeswoman from the Tibet Society UK said.

The talks would be the Dalai Lama's first with Brown since the prime minister took office last June. His predecessor Tony Blair was criticised when he declined to meet the Dalai Lama in 2004.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel triggered a deep freeze in relations between Berlin and Beijing for several months after she met the exiled Tibetan leader in her chancellery offices in September last year.

Tibetan campaigners, including Matt Whitticase of the Free Tibet movement, welcomed Brown's announcement.

"We welcome the fact he will see him, although we do want to assess the substance of the meeting and whether it is going to take place in a public place, like any other leader of a recognised country," he said.

Tibetan Drol Kar, an exiled former prisoner, added: "It's really good news for Tibet... But we would like Gordon Brown not just to meet the Dalai Lama, but also to put pressure on China to stop the oppression in Tibet."

Brown said the overriding aim was to curtail the violence.

"The most important thing at the moment is to bring about an end to the violence, reconciliation, and to see legitimate talks taking place between those peoples in China," he said.

An aide of the Dalai Lama said Wednesday that he wants talks between his government-in-exile and China to resume and is committed to a non-violent settlement of the Tibet issue.

Tibet's government-in-exile has put the "confirmed" death toll from a week of unrest at 99, while the exiled Tibetan parliament in Dharamshala has said "hundreds" may have died in the Chinese crackdown.

China, however, has denied using deadly force to quell the unrest and said the only deaths so far were 13 "innocent civilians" killed by rioters in Lhasa on Friday, while 325 people were injured.

China looks at India to talk to Dalai Lama

BEIJING: China expects India to somehow persuade the Dalai Lama to call for peace in Tibet and resume the process of negotiations.

Officials said India's help at this crucial juncture would go a long way in further building the bilateral relationship between the two countries.

"We realise India would not directly discuss this issue with the Dalai Lama. But there are ways for New Delhi to persuade him to make an appeal for peace," a government official told TOI today.

Another official, who works for a government-run think-tank said China wants the Dalai Lama to make an appeal for peace in order to calm down the situation.

"We are ready to resume negotiations with the Dalai Lama even before the Olympic Games if he makes an appeal for peace and uses his influence to calm down the situation," Hu Shisheng, director of South Asian Studies at the state-run think-tank, China Institute of Contemporary International Relations told this reporter.

Beijing is happy about India's action in stopping the Dharmashala based Tibetan protesters from going over to Tibet. But it is worried that India may find it difficult to handle the situation if protests and demonstrations go beyond a certain point.

"Indian government has not fallen into the trap of western nations that are condemning government action in Tibet," Hu said.

"But we are worried India may find it difficult to sustain this approach if the agitation goes on for long. India might come under pressure from western countries to go soft on Tibetan protesters," he said.

One of the problems is that there is no repatriation agreement between India and China. This makes it difficult for Beijing to demand that fugitives from Chinese law be sent back. Besides, most of those that illegally leave China enter India through Nepal instead of going there directly.

"This makes the situation complex because India regards as illegal entry from Nepal and not from China," Hu explained. "We are getting a lot of help and support from the government in Nepal, which tries to push back illegal migrants to the extent possible. But a lot of Tibetans still manage to enter India through the Nepal route every year.

The worry now is that protesters and other anti-China activists from Tibet would flee from the police and find their way to shelters and hideouts in Dharmashala.

China is worried that the demonstrations, which have subsided in Lhasa as of now, might reoccur during the coming months before the Olympic Games in August.

"We will highly appreciate help from India at this crucial time. It will go a long way in further developing the bilateral relations between the two countries," he said

China intensifies border vigil along Nepal-Tibet border

Kathmandu (PTI): China has stepped up security along its border with Nepal in Tibet fearing more anti-China protests.

In the wake of several anti-China protests in Kathmandu last week, Chinese authorities have asked their Nepalese counterparts to watch for pro-Tibet protests, officials said.

"The number of security personnel deployed on Nepal-Tibet border has been significantly increased in the recent period. The number of Chinese border guards have also been increased, and the patrolling on Chinese side of the border has also been intensified," said Chief District Administrator of Sindhupalchowk district Kailash Kharel.

Chinese officials have been mainly concerned about the possible protests in Tibet and clashes between police and Tibetan refugees, officials said.

They said that Nepalese police were also on alert to deal with any untoward situation along the border.

The Tatopani Nepal-Tibet border situated about 100 km. east of Kathmandu, is the main land route connecting Tibet and Nepal. Every year thousands of Tibetan refugees cross into Nepal risking their lives through the heavily guarded border post at Tatopani on way to Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh to meet their spiritual guru the Dalai Lama.

As violence erupted in Tibet due to Chinese intervention against the Tibetan demonstrators in recent days, Nepal also witnessed several anti-China protests.

Dozens of Tibetan refugees were injured in clashes with police in Kathmandu during the week-long protests. Police yesterday broke up a protest in front of the United Nations office here by 250 Tibetans and arrested at least two dozen of them.

Meanwhile, Nepal has, on China's request, halted expedition to Mt Everest from the southern side for 10 days. However, officials here deny that China has made any such request.

Dalai Lama appeals to China to stop "brute force"

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Dalai Lama appealed to the Chinese leadership on Friday to stop using "brute force" against Tibetan protesters.

"These protests are a manifestation of the deep-rooted resentment of the Tibetan people under the present governance," he said in a statement.

"I therefore appeal to the Chinese leadership to stop using force and address the long-simmering resentment of the Tibetan people through dialogue with the Tibetan people."

Protests Turn Violent in Tibetan Capital

BEIJING (AP) — Angry protesters set shops ablaze and gunfire was reported in Tibet's regional capital Friday as the largest demonstrations in two decades against Chinese rule turned violent months ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

The protests, which began Monday in a stunning show of defiance by Buddhist monks, cast a shadow over Beijing's efforts to portray China as unified and prosperous in the run-up to the games.

Protesters set shops and police vehicles on fire in central Lhasa, state media and witnesses said. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing warned Americans to stay away, saying it had "received firsthand reports from American citizens in the city who report gunfire and other indications of violence."

The protests appeared to be attracting large numbers of ordinary Tibetans venting pent-up anger against Chinese rule after days of smaller, sporadic and mostly peaceful demonstrations by hundreds of monks supporting Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Shops were set on fire along two main streets surrounding the Jokhang temple, Ramoche monastery, and the city's main Chomsigkang market, witnesses said.

"It was chaos everywhere. I could see fires, smoke, cars and motorcycles burning," said a Tibetan guide who spoke by telephone. Like other Tibetans, he spoke on condition his name not be used, fearing retaliation by authorities.

He said the whole road in the main Barkor shopping area surrounding the Jokhang temple "seemed to be on fire."

The guide said armed police in riot gear backed by armored vehicles were blocking major intersections in the city center, along with the broad square in front of the Potala, the former winter home of the Dalai Lama.

"As I approached Potala Square, I heard cannon fire, louder than rifles. Others told me police were firing tear gas along Beijing Zhonglu, west of the Potala," he said.

In a terse report, China's official Xinhua News Agency said people had been hospitalized with injuries and vehicles and shops torched, but gave few details.

Another Lhasa resident said military police had closed all roads leading to the city center.

"The situation is quite serious. There's a curfew in the city and I can see military police block all the roads to the center of the city. Nearly all the stores and shops are closed," the resident said.

Chinese Communist troops occupied Tibet in 1951 and Beijing continues to rule the region with a heavy hand. Beijing enforces strict controls on religious institutions and routinely vilifies the Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 amid an aborted uprising against Chinese rule.

This week's demonstrations began on the anniversary of the 1959 uprising, with monks from one monastery demanding the release of monks detained last fall. Political demands soon came to the fore. Other monks and ordinary Tibetans demanded independence and unfurled the Tibetan flag, a capital offense in China.

Demonstrators took encouragement from the Dalai Lama, whose speech Monday to mark the uprising accused China of "unimaginable and gross violations of human rights, denial of religious freedom and thepoliticizationn of religious issues" in Tibet.

The protests have become the largest and most sustained in Lhasa since Beijing crushed a wave of pro-independence demonstrations in 1989.

Beijing maintains that Tibet is historically a part of China. But many Tibetans argue the Himalayan region was virtually independent for centuries and accuse China of trying to crush Tibetan culture by swamping it with Han people, the majority Chinese ethnic group.

China has also tried to weed out supporters of the Dalai Lama, who won the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, from among the influential Buddhist clergy.

Tibetans inside and outside the country have sought to use the Olympic Games' high profile to call attention to their cause. Beijing has accused the Dalai Lama — who many Tibetans consider their rightful ruler — of trying to sabotage the games.

The city's three biggest and historically important monasteries three — known as the "Three Pillars of Tibet" — were sealed off by thousands of soldiers and armed police, the U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia reported Friday.

Monks at the Sera monastery launched a hunger strike Thursday to demand that armed police withdraw from the monastery grounds and detained monks be released, RFA reported.

At the Drepung Monastery, two Buddhist monks are in critical condition after attempting to commit suicide by slashing their wrists, RFA said, citing authoritative sources.

The London-based International Campaign for Tibet said monks from the Ganden monastery mounted protests Thursday, becoming the last of the three to join in the demonstrations.

Tourists were mainly staying off the streets and were being warned away from all the monasteries, said one tourist staying at a Lhasa hotel.

One hotel worker said hotels in the area were placed under lockdown, though an official from the Tibetan government's office of emergency affairs who identified himself as Ren Yong said people had dispersed.

"The Red Army is downtown. It's not safe to walk around. All the major monasteries are closed," said the tourist, who refused to give her name or her nationality. "Tourists don't feel comfortable walking around because police are all over."

In Washington, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said: "Beijing needs to respect Tibetan culture ... We regret the tensions between the ethnic groups and Beijing. The president has said consistently that Beijing needs to have adialogueg with the Dalai Lama."

The Chinese government was trying to keep foreigners from getting in, with travel agents in China and neighboring Nepal refusing to issue the special permits needed to visit the region.

It is extremely difficult to get independent verification of events in Tibet since China maintains rigid control over the area. Journalists are rarely granted access except under highly controlled circumstances.

Officials who answered phones at police and Communist Party offices in Tibet on Friday said they had no information about the violence and refused to comment.

The unrest comes as China holds its annual legislative session, which puts on a high-profile display of national unity, especially for minority groups such as Tibetans.

Hundreds of monks from Labrang monastery were also protesting in the streets of Xiahe, a predominantly Tibetan county in western China's Gansu province, said Matt Whitticase of the Free Tibet Campaign. There were no reports of police action so far, he said.

Tibetan officials say Dalai Lama wants to sabatoge Olympics

BEIJING (AP) -- Chinese officials accused the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, of trying to sabotage this summer's Beijing Olympics, suggesting Friday they are prepared to take harsh measures against any group causing instability in the Himalayan region.

The ruling Communist Party routinely accuses the Dalai Lama of trying to undermine Chinese authority by pushing for independence for Tibet, although he says he wants meaningful autonomy for the region, not independence.


"China earned the qualifications in order to host the Olympics. But he is even trying to sabotage this important event and spread rumors," said Zhang Qingli, the region's Communist Party secretary, its top official.

Zhang did not say how the Dalai Lama was trying to sabotage the Games, which are five months away.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate reportedly told British broadcaster ITV News earlier this year that protests at the Olympics could highlight government policies he says are eroding Tibet's traditional Buddhist culture.

Tibet will be highlighted during the Olympic torch relay, which follows an ambitious route that includes a stop at the top of Mount Everest, which straddles the border between Tibet and Nepal.

Activists have indicated they may use the high-profile event to air their grievances against the Chinese government. But the head of China's armed police command in Tibet, Kang Jingzhong, warned against any protests.

"If there is an unstable element in Tibet, for example, the sabotage activities of the Dalai clique, then under these special and individual circumstances we will take corresponding measures to uphold stability," he said.

Zhang and Kang spoke at a meeting at Beijing's Great Hall of the People with delegates attending the annual session of the National People's Congress, China's ceremonial legislature.

Chinese Communist troops occupied Tibet in 1951 and Beijing continues to rule the region with a heavy hand. Beijing enforces strict controls on religious institutions and routinely vilifies the Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 amid an aborted uprising against Chinese rule and won the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize.

China says it has ruled Tibet for centuries, although many Tibetans say their homeland was essentially an independent state for most of that time.


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Tickets for Dalai Lama lecture available

By GEOFF LARCOM
The Ann Arbor News

The long-awaited distribution of tickets for a free lecture by the 14th Dalai Lama will begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Michigan Union Ticket Office.

"We do expect a big crowd," Heather Gray, manager of the ticket office, said Monday. "We've been on the phone all morning."

The free tickets are for the Dalai Lama's presentation of the University of Michigan's annual Peter M. Wege Lecture on Sustainability in celebration of Earth Day. The lecture is April 20, from 2 to 4 p.m. in Crisler Arena.

Each person with a faculty, staff or student ID with picture will receive two free tickets to the lecture, Gray said. If available, free tickets will go to the public on Wednesday.

The ticket office opens at 9 a.m. The union opens at 7 a.m. Gray said she expects a line to form for the free tickets.

The Wege Lecture is part of a weekend of programs by the Dalai Lama. He will present talks on "Engaging Wisdom and Compassion" on April 19 from 10 a.m. to noon and 2 to 4 p.m. and April 20 from 10 a.m. to noon.

Individual tickets for those talks cost $10 for a Saturday or Sunday talk to $95 for a two-day ticket. Gray said tickets remain for those talks. Those have been on sale since Dec. 10.

To purchase tickets, visit the union box office or www.TicketMaster.com. The Web site for the Dalai Lama's visit is www.DalaiLamaAnnArbor.com.

Seating for the talks will be around 8,000 in the arena, Gray said.

The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is a Tibetan Buddhist leader who is recognized worldwide for his message of peace and tolerance. Gyatso is both the head of state and the spiritual leader of Tibet. He was born in 1935 to a farming family in a small hamlet located in northeastern Tibet. At the age of 2, the child, who was named Lhamo Dhondup at that time, was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso, according to the Dalai Lama's Web site.

The Dalai Lamas are believed to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and patron saint of Tibet.

The Wege Lecture is sponsored by the Office of the President and the Center for Sustainable Systems at the School of Natural Resources and Environment.

The Dalai Lama last visited Ann Arbor in 1994, when about 9,000 people attended a lecture at Crisler Arena.

For more information, call the Union Box Office at 734-763-8587.

Geoff Larcom can be reached at 734-994-6838 or glarcom@annarbornews.com.