China closes Tibet to foreign tourists: agencies, hotel

BEIJING (AFP) — China has closed Tibet to foreign tourists ahead of next month's highly sensitive 50th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule, tour agencies and other industry people told AFP on Tuesday.
"Authorities asked tour agents to stop organising foreigners coming to Tibet for tour trips until April 1," an employee at a government-run travel agency in Lhasa, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals, told AFP.
A hotel in the Tibetan capital and three travel agencies in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu that normally organise trips into Tibet also confirmed the ban for foreigners during March.
Chinese authorities have reportedly increased security in Tibet ahead of March 10, which marks the 50th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule that led to the Dalai Lama fleeing his homeland.
China has ruled Tibet since 1951, a year after sending in troops to "liberate" the region.