Tibet protests spread in China, Dalai Lama condemns 'rule of terror'
Monday, 17 March 2008
BEIJING, Mar 16 (AFP): Police opened fire on Tibetan protesters as anti-Chinese rallies spread outside of Lhasa Sunday, a witness and activists said, amid warnings from the Dalai Lama of a "rule of terror" in his homeland.
The fresh outbreak of unrest, in southwest China's Sichuan province, reportedly left three people dead in a dangerous escalation of a nearly week-long uprising by Tibetans against China's rule of the Himalayan region.
The protests, previously confined mainly to the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, have presented China with a huge domestic crisis just as it is trying to present an image of harmony and peace ahead of the Beijing Olympics.
Speaking from his exiled base in Dharamshala, India, the Dalai Lama launched a scathing criticism of China's decades-long rule of his homeland and called for an international probe into the unrest.
"Whether intentionally or unintentionally, some cultural genocide is taking place," the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner told reporters.
"They simply rely on using force in order to simulate peace, a peace brought by force using a rule of terror.
"Please investigate, if possible... some international organisation can try firstly to inquire about the situation in Tibet."
In the protest in Ngawa town, Sichuan province, which borders Tibet, at least three people were killed when police shot at hundreds of rioting Tibetans, a resident and two activist groups with contacts there told the news agency.
Meanwhile, foreigners in Lhasa reported a massive security presence still in place there as China declared a "people's war" in Tibet to end what has become the biggest uprising against Chinese rule in nearly 20 years.
Foreigners who flew out of Lhasa reported hearing repeated gunfire Saturday, with armed soldiers patrolling every street.
"I heard muffled gunshot fire. There was no question about it," one tourist, Gerald Flint, a former US marine who runs a medical non-government organisation, told reporters at Chengdu airport in Sichuan.
Flint said security forces poured into Lhasa Saturday but that there was still "chaos" on the streets.
The worst reported violence occurred Friday, when Tibetans rampaged through Lhasa, destroying Chinese businesses and torching police cars.
The fresh outbreak of unrest, in southwest China's Sichuan province, reportedly left three people dead in a dangerous escalation of a nearly week-long uprising by Tibetans against China's rule of the Himalayan region.
The protests, previously confined mainly to the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, have presented China with a huge domestic crisis just as it is trying to present an image of harmony and peace ahead of the Beijing Olympics.
Speaking from his exiled base in Dharamshala, India, the Dalai Lama launched a scathing criticism of China's decades-long rule of his homeland and called for an international probe into the unrest.
"Whether intentionally or unintentionally, some cultural genocide is taking place," the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner told reporters.
"They simply rely on using force in order to simulate peace, a peace brought by force using a rule of terror.
"Please investigate, if possible... some international organisation can try firstly to inquire about the situation in Tibet."
In the protest in Ngawa town, Sichuan province, which borders Tibet, at least three people were killed when police shot at hundreds of rioting Tibetans, a resident and two activist groups with contacts there told the news agency.
Meanwhile, foreigners in Lhasa reported a massive security presence still in place there as China declared a "people's war" in Tibet to end what has become the biggest uprising against Chinese rule in nearly 20 years.
Foreigners who flew out of Lhasa reported hearing repeated gunfire Saturday, with armed soldiers patrolling every street.
"I heard muffled gunshot fire. There was no question about it," one tourist, Gerald Flint, a former US marine who runs a medical non-government organisation, told reporters at Chengdu airport in Sichuan.
Flint said security forces poured into Lhasa Saturday but that there was still "chaos" on the streets.
The worst reported violence occurred Friday, when Tibetans rampaged through Lhasa, destroying Chinese businesses and torching police cars.