Virginian - Pilot. By Jim Yardley, The New York Times
BEIJING - Thousands of Buddhist monks and other Tibetans clashed with riot police in a second Chinese city on Saturday, while the authorities said they had regained control of the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, a day after a mob ransacked shops and set fire to cars and storefronts in a deadly riot.
Conflicting reports emerged about the violence in Lhasa on Friday. The Chinese authorities denied that they had fired on protesters there, but Tibetan leaders in India told news agencies Saturday that they had confirmed that 30 Tibetans had died. They said they had unconfirmed reports that put the number at more than 100.
Demonstrations erupted for the second consecutive day in the city of Xiahe in Gansu province, where an estimated 4,000 Tibetans gathered near the Labrang Monastery. Local monks had held a smaller protest Friday, but the confrontation escalated Saturday afternoon, according to witnesses and Tibetans in India who spoke with protesters by telephone.
Residents in Xiahe, reached by telephone, heard loud noises similar to gunshots or explosions. A waitress described the scene as "chaos" and said many injured people had been sent to a local hospital. Large numbers of military police and security officers fired tear gas while Tibetans hurled rocks, according to the Tibetans in India.
The violence in Lhasa and Xiahe has created a political and public relations challenge for the ruling Communist Party as Beijing prepares to host the Olympic Games in August. The demonstrations are the largest in Tibet since 1989, when Chinese troops used lethal force to crush an uprising by thousands of Tibetan protesters.
So far, the international community has reacted to the crackdown in Tibet only by calling for Chinese restraint without any threats of an Olympic boycott or other sanctions.
"We believe that the boycott doesn't solve anything," International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said Saturday. "On the contrary. It is penalizing innocent athletes and it is stopping the organization from something that definitely is worthwhile organizing."
On Saturday the Chinese authorities defended their response to the violence in Lhasa.
"We fired no gunshots," said Qiangba Puncog, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Government, according to state media.
But Tibetan advocacy groups and witnesses in Lhasa offered contradictory accounts. The Tibetan government in exile said at least 30 Tibetans died in the protests, according to Agence France- Presse. Witnesses told Radio Free Asia, the nonprofit news agency financed by the U.S. government, that numerous Tibetans were dead.
Foreign journalists are being restricted from traveling to Lhasa, and the precise death toll remains unknown. State media reported 10 deaths and characterized most of them as shopkeepers. The government's official news agency, Xinhua, reported that the victims had been "burned to death."
Chinese officials demanded the surrender of the "lawbreakers" in Lhasa and offered leniency to people who turned themselves in to the authorities by midnight Monday. Senior officials described the unrest as "sabotage" orchestrated by the Dalai Lama and credited the military police for rescuing 580 people from banks, schools and hospitals that were set afire by rioters.
Witnesses in Lhasa on Saturday reported seeing large numbers of military police, armored vehicles and, according to a few reports, tanks.
Several residents, reached by telephone, said that an uneasy calm had settled over the city. Tibetans living in the suburbs said officers were blocking people from entering the city center. Power and telephone service, suspended in some neighborhoods on Friday, was being restored on Saturday. Traffic was light on city streets, while most shops were closed.
It is still uncertain what set off Friday's unrest. Tibetan advocates say ordinary Tibetans began rioting after military police officers attacked monks trying to protest outside a monastery .
News agencies reported that foreign tourists are now being prohibited from entering Tibet. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing issued a new warning on Saturday advising American citizens about danger in Lhasa and other regions.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
how it started
The latest unrest began Monday on the anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. Tibet was effectively independent for decades before communist troops entered in 1950.
related news
Chinese president is re-elected
Hu Jintao was re-elected Saturday as China's president and head of its military commission, a formality to cement a second five- year term for the leader of the world's most populous country. The National People's Congress also appointed Xi Jinping, a top Communist Party leader and the son of a revolutionary, as vice president.
protests grow in support of Tibet
Sonam Chhokey, right, turns her prayer wheel as she joins a protest by ethnic Tibetans on Saturday in front of the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C. Fresh demonstrations by Tibetan exiles and their supporters sprouted up in neighboring Nepal, New York, Switzerland and Australia.
(c) 2008 Virginian - Pilot. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
A service of YellowBrix, Inc.
BEIJING - Thousands of Buddhist monks and other Tibetans clashed with riot police in a second Chinese city on Saturday, while the authorities said they had regained control of the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, a day after a mob ransacked shops and set fire to cars and storefronts in a deadly riot.
Conflicting reports emerged about the violence in Lhasa on Friday. The Chinese authorities denied that they had fired on protesters there, but Tibetan leaders in India told news agencies Saturday that they had confirmed that 30 Tibetans had died. They said they had unconfirmed reports that put the number at more than 100.
Demonstrations erupted for the second consecutive day in the city of Xiahe in Gansu province, where an estimated 4,000 Tibetans gathered near the Labrang Monastery. Local monks had held a smaller protest Friday, but the confrontation escalated Saturday afternoon, according to witnesses and Tibetans in India who spoke with protesters by telephone.
Residents in Xiahe, reached by telephone, heard loud noises similar to gunshots or explosions. A waitress described the scene as "chaos" and said many injured people had been sent to a local hospital. Large numbers of military police and security officers fired tear gas while Tibetans hurled rocks, according to the Tibetans in India.
The violence in Lhasa and Xiahe has created a political and public relations challenge for the ruling Communist Party as Beijing prepares to host the Olympic Games in August. The demonstrations are the largest in Tibet since 1989, when Chinese troops used lethal force to crush an uprising by thousands of Tibetan protesters.
So far, the international community has reacted to the crackdown in Tibet only by calling for Chinese restraint without any threats of an Olympic boycott or other sanctions.
"We believe that the boycott doesn't solve anything," International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said Saturday. "On the contrary. It is penalizing innocent athletes and it is stopping the organization from something that definitely is worthwhile organizing."
On Saturday the Chinese authorities defended their response to the violence in Lhasa.
"We fired no gunshots," said Qiangba Puncog, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Government, according to state media.
But Tibetan advocacy groups and witnesses in Lhasa offered contradictory accounts. The Tibetan government in exile said at least 30 Tibetans died in the protests, according to Agence France- Presse. Witnesses told Radio Free Asia, the nonprofit news agency financed by the U.S. government, that numerous Tibetans were dead.
Foreign journalists are being restricted from traveling to Lhasa, and the precise death toll remains unknown. State media reported 10 deaths and characterized most of them as shopkeepers. The government's official news agency, Xinhua, reported that the victims had been "burned to death."
Chinese officials demanded the surrender of the "lawbreakers" in Lhasa and offered leniency to people who turned themselves in to the authorities by midnight Monday. Senior officials described the unrest as "sabotage" orchestrated by the Dalai Lama and credited the military police for rescuing 580 people from banks, schools and hospitals that were set afire by rioters.
Witnesses in Lhasa on Saturday reported seeing large numbers of military police, armored vehicles and, according to a few reports, tanks.
Several residents, reached by telephone, said that an uneasy calm had settled over the city. Tibetans living in the suburbs said officers were blocking people from entering the city center. Power and telephone service, suspended in some neighborhoods on Friday, was being restored on Saturday. Traffic was light on city streets, while most shops were closed.
It is still uncertain what set off Friday's unrest. Tibetan advocates say ordinary Tibetans began rioting after military police officers attacked monks trying to protest outside a monastery .
News agencies reported that foreign tourists are now being prohibited from entering Tibet. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing issued a new warning on Saturday advising American citizens about danger in Lhasa and other regions.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
how it started
The latest unrest began Monday on the anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. Tibet was effectively independent for decades before communist troops entered in 1950.
related news
Chinese president is re-elected
Hu Jintao was re-elected Saturday as China's president and head of its military commission, a formality to cement a second five- year term for the leader of the world's most populous country. The National People's Congress also appointed Xi Jinping, a top Communist Party leader and the son of a revolutionary, as vice president.
protests grow in support of Tibet
Sonam Chhokey, right, turns her prayer wheel as she joins a protest by ethnic Tibetans on Saturday in front of the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C. Fresh demonstrations by Tibetan exiles and their supporters sprouted up in neighboring Nepal, New York, Switzerland and Australia.
(c) 2008 Virginian - Pilot. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
A service of YellowBrix, Inc.
