China sends 80 troop truckloads toward Tibet
BEIJING (AP) - March 20, 2008 Government officials acknowledged for the first time that the
sometimes violent protests against Chinese rule of Tibet have
spread to Tibetan communities in other provinces after sweeping
through Lhasa last week.
Hundreds of paramilitary police aboard at least 80 trucks
traveled along the main road winding through the mountains into
southeastern Tibet. Others set up camp and patrolled in riot gear,
helmets and, for a few, rifles in the area above Tiger Leaping
Gorge, a tourist attraction that usually sees little unrest.
Such scenes were repeated across far-flung towns and villages in
Tibetan areas of adjacent provinces to reassert control as sporadic
demonstrations continued to flare. Foreigners were barred from
traveling there and tour groups were banned from Tibet, isolating a
region about four times the size of France.
The protests against Chinese rule started peacefully in Tibet's
capital, Lhasa, early last week, but erupted into riots last
Friday, drawing a harsh response from Chinese authorities.
Authorities say 325 people were injured and 16 people died.
China says the riots and protests were plotted from abroad by
the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader revered by Tibetans,
and his supporters. They have denied Tibetan exile groups' claims
that 80 died in the violence and ensuing crackdown.
Speaking from the seat of his government-in-exile in Dharmsala,
India, the Dalai Lama reiterated that he was not seeking
independence for Tibet. He offered to meet with Chinese President
Hu Jintao and other Chinese leaders, though said he would not
travel to Beijing unless there was a "real concrete development."
"The whole world knows Dalai Lama is not seeking independence,
one hundred times, thousand times I have repeated this. It is my
mantra - we are not seeking independence," the 72-year-old Dalai
Lama told reporters.
"The Tibet problem must be solved between Tibetan people and
Chinese people," he said.
The Foreign Ministry expressed "grave concern" over a planned
meeting between British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Dalai
Lama, telling Brown not to offer support to the exiled leader.
At a tense news conference, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang
said the government suggested that foreign tourists stay out of
western Gansu and Sichuan provinces, the scene of additional
clashes earlier this week between Tibetan protesters and security
forces.
After a long pause, he added: "But I shall assure you that our
government is fully capable of maintaining social stability and
ensuring the security of tourists."
In Sichuan's Aba county, a Tibetan woman reached by phone
Thursday said she had heard of numerous arrests of protesters in
the area.
"There are many, many troops outside," she said. "I'm afraid
to leave the house," said the woman, who refused to give her name
for fear of retaliation by authorities.
Police were checking ID cards at checkpoints and could be heard
shouting for protesters to turn themselves in.
Troops blocked roads also in nearby Serthar, also in Sichuan,
confining residents to their homes, said a woman reached there by
phone.
The London-based Free Tibet Campaign reported that troops had
been sent to the county after local residents blew up a bridge near
the village of Gudu.
Protests were reported also in neighboring Qinghai province,
which is heavily Tibetan.
The official Xinhua News Agency said the protesters attacked
shops and government offices on Sunday in Aba, known as Ngawa in
Tibetan, but made no mention of allegations by pro-Tibet groups
abroad that troops fired on protesters, killing several.
Zhang Yusheng, a spokesman for the Gansu provincial government,
said a "small number of lawbreakers shouted reactionary slogans,
raised the flag of separatism and adopted violent methods."
Shops, schools, homes, vehicles and government offices in
Gansu's Gannan prefecture - a predominantly Tibetan area - were
attacked, posing an "extremely grave threat" to social order,
Zhang was quoted by state media as telling reporters on Wednesday.
Reinforcements were brought in and order was restored, he said.
He mentioned no arrests.
Despite those reassurances, a hotel receptionist in the regional
center of Luqu said employees and guests had been holed up inside
since Tibetan protesters marched through the area on Sunday.
"The streets are now filled with police officers. Our hotel is
booked out with tourists, but no one feels safe enough to set foot
outside," said the woman, who refused to give her name or that of
her hotel for fear of retaliation by authorities.
A police officer in the nearby town of Maqu refused to answer
questions about the situation.
The reports confirm previous claims by Tibetan exile groups that
the protests had spread. Foreign journalists have been banned from
going to Tibet and have found it increasingly difficult to travel
to areas in other provinces with Tibetan populations.
The Tibet Daily reported that 24 people had been arrested for
endangering state security and for other "grave crimes" for their
roles in last Friday's riots in Lhasa. Another 170 people have
reportedly turned themselves in to police.
The protests have been the biggest challenge in almost two
decades to Chinese rule in Tibet, a Himalayan region that the
People's Liberation Army occupied in 1950 after several decades of
effective independence.
But authorities appeared to be regaining control in Tibet and
surrounding provinces where more than half of China's 5.4 million
Tibetans live. Moving from town to town, police checked IDs and set
up roadblocks to keep Tibetans in and reporters out.
On Thursday morning, an Associated Press photographer was turned
away from a flight to Zhongdian in Yunnan province. There were 12
policemen, some with automatic weapons, at the check-in counter.
The police said no foreigners were allowed to travel to Tibetan
areas due to the protests.
The unrest has prompted discussion of a possible boycott of the
Aug. 8 opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympics and calls for China
to address Tibetans' grievances and engage in direct talks with the
Dalai Lama.
Despite China's relentless vilification, the Dalai Lama - winner
of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize - remains widely revered by Tibetans,
traveling widely and meeting an array of politicians and
celebrities.
China has ignored calls for dialogue, casting recent events as
evidence that the Dalai Lama could not be negotiated with.
Tibet's hard-line Communist Party boss Zhang Qingli this week
labeled the Dalai Lama a "wolf in monk's robes" and said Beijing
was in a "life-and-death" struggle with his supporters.
Adding to Beijing's worries, activists said Thursday they would
demonstrate in Beijing during the Olympics to press China to help
end bloodshed in Sudan's Darfur region.
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Associated Press writers Audra Ang and Anita Chang in Beijing,
and Greg Baker in Zhongdian contributed to this report.