Tibet protests turn violent
Saturday, 15 March 2008
BEIJING, Mar 14 (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 just months ahead of the Beijing Olympics.
The protests, in their fifth day and led by monks supporting Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, threatened to cast a shadow over China's efforts to portray a unified and prosperous nation in the run-up to the games.
Protesters set shops and police vehicles on fire in Lhasa, state media and witnesses said. The US 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 are the largest and most sustained in Lhasa since Beijing crushed a wave of pro-independence demonstrations in 1989. Since then, China has invested in the region, vilified the Dalai Lama and tried to weed out his supporters among the influential Buddhist clergy.
But 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.
A Lhasa resident, who asked to be unnamed for fear of government reprisal, said military police had closed all roads leading to the city centre.
"The situation is quite serious. There's a curfew in the city and I can see military police block all the roads to the centre of the city. Nearly all the stores and shops are closed," the resident said.
A Tibetan woman who has family in the city said protesters were setting fires.
"The monks are still protesting. Police and army cars were burned. There are people crying," said the witness, who also requested anonymity for fear of government reprisal. "Hundreds of people, including monks and civilians are in the protest."
Tensions in the Tibetan capital have increased in recent days. The city's three biggest monasteries were sealed off by thousands of soldiers and armed police in a government crackdown against the protests, the US-funded Radio Free Asia reported Friday.
Monks at the major Sera Monastery launched a hunger strike Thursday to demand that armed police withdraw from the monastery grounds and detained monks be released, RFA reported.
The protests, in their fifth day and led by monks supporting Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, threatened to cast a shadow over China's efforts to portray a unified and prosperous nation in the run-up to the games.
Protesters set shops and police vehicles on fire in Lhasa, state media and witnesses said. The US 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 are the largest and most sustained in Lhasa since Beijing crushed a wave of pro-independence demonstrations in 1989. Since then, China has invested in the region, vilified the Dalai Lama and tried to weed out his supporters among the influential Buddhist clergy.
But 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.
A Lhasa resident, who asked to be unnamed for fear of government reprisal, said military police had closed all roads leading to the city centre.
"The situation is quite serious. There's a curfew in the city and I can see military police block all the roads to the centre of the city. Nearly all the stores and shops are closed," the resident said.
A Tibetan woman who has family in the city said protesters were setting fires.
"The monks are still protesting. Police and army cars were burned. There are people crying," said the witness, who also requested anonymity for fear of government reprisal. "Hundreds of people, including monks and civilians are in the protest."
Tensions in the Tibetan capital have increased in recent days. The city's three biggest monasteries were sealed off by thousands of soldiers and armed police in a government crackdown against the protests, the US-funded Radio Free Asia reported Friday.
Monks at the major Sera Monastery launched a hunger strike Thursday to demand that armed police withdraw from the monastery grounds and detained monks be released, RFA reported.