http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23629811/ Report: Two dead as Tibet protests turn violent China blames Dalai Lama as police fire on crowds in Lhasa led by monks MSNBC News Services updated 26 minutes ago BEIJING - Protests led by Buddhist monks against Chinese rule in Tibet turned violent Friday, with shops and vehicles torched and gunshots echoing in the streets of the ancient capital, Lhasa. A radio report said two people had been killed, while China blamed the disturbances on followers of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled Buddhist leader. The Dalai Lama on Friday called the demonstrations "a manifestation of the deep-rooted resentment of the Tibetan people" and called upon China to stop using force during protests. In a statement, the Dalai Lama said he was "deeply concerned over the situation that has been developing in Tibet following peaceful protests." The largest demonstrations in nearly two decades against Beijing's 57-year-rule over Tibet come at a critically sensitive time for China as it attempts to portray a unified and prosperous nation ahead of the Olympic Games in August. U.S. government-funded Radio Free Asia said troops using both live ammunition and tear gas fired on crowds torching vehicles and Chinese-owned shops in the center of the ancient capital of Lhasa. It said two people were killed, while other reports put the death toll higher but gave no figures. The U.S. State Department urged Chinese leaders to engage in dialogue with the Dalai Lama. The European Union also called on China to show restraint. The protests that began on Monday's anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule were initially led by hundreds of Buddhist monks — but then attracted large numbers of ordinary Tibetans. They were also spreading to Tibetan areas outside Lhasa, a city of about 250,000 permanent residents, not including large numbers of soldiers and members of the paramilitary People's Armed Police. Witnesses reported hearing gunfire and seeing vehicles in flames in the city's main Barkor shopping district in the center of Lhasa. Crowds hurled rocks at security forces and at restaurant and hotel windows. 'Chaos everywhere' "It was chaos everywhere. I could see fires, smoke, cars and motorcycles burning," said a Tibetan guide who spoke on condition his name not be used, fearing retaliation by authorities. He said the whole road in the main Barkor shopping area surrounding the Jokhang temple "seemed to be on fire." The guide said armed police in riot gear backed by armored vehicles were blocking major intersections in the city center, along with the broad square in front of the Potala, the former winter home of the Dalai Lama. "As I approached Potala Square, I heard cannon fire, louder than rifles. Others told me police were firing tear gas along Beijing Zhonglu, west of the Potala," he said. Up to 400 protesters, including students, had gathered around a market near the Jokhang temple early on Friday and were confronted by about 1,000 police, according to a witness cited by Matt Whitticase of the Free Tibet Campaign in London. Four police were injured, and another protest break out near the Potala Palace, Whitticase added. Shops were set on fire along two main streets surrounding the Jokhang temple, Ramoche monastery, and the city's main Chomsigkang market, sending out heavy smoke. 'Chaos everywhere' "It was chaos everywhere. I could see fires, smoke, cars and motorcycles burning," said a Tibetan guide who spoke on condition his name not be used, fearing retaliation by authorities. He said the whole road in the main Barkor shopping area surrounding the Jokhang temple "seemed to be on fire." The guide said armed police in riot gear backed by armored vehicles were blocking major intersections in the city center, along with the broad square in front of the Potala, the former winter home of the Dalai Lama. "As I approached Potala Square, I heard cannon fire, louder than rifles. Others told me police were firing tear gas along Beijing Zhonglu, west of the Potala," he said. Up to 400 protesters, including students, had gathered around a market near the Jokhang temple early on Friday and were confronted by about 1,000 police, according to a witness cited by Matt Whitticase of the Free Tibet Campaign in London. Four police were injured, and another protest break out near the Potala Palace, Whitticase added. Shops were set on fire along two main streets surrounding the Jokhang temple, Ramoche monastery, and the city's main Chomsigkang market, sending out heavy smoke. 'Chaos everywhere' "It was chaos everywhere. I could see fires, smoke, cars and motorcycles burning," said a Tibetan guide who spoke on condition his name not be used, fearing retaliation by authorities. He said the whole road in the main Barkor shopping area surrounding the Jokhang temple "seemed to be on fire." The guide said armed police in riot gear backed by armored vehicles were blocking major intersections in the city center, along with the broad square in front of the Potala, the former winter home of the Dalai Lama. "As I approached Potala Square, I heard cannon fire, louder than rifles. Others told me police were firing tear gas along Beijing Zhonglu, west of the Potala," he said. Up to 400 protesters, including students, had gathered around a market near the Jokhang temple early on Friday and were confronted by about 1,000 police, according to a witness cited by Matt Whitticase of the Free Tibet Campaign in London. Four police were injured, and another protest break out near the Potala Palace, Whitticase added. Shops were set on fire along two main streets surrounding the Jokhang temple, Ramoche monastery, and the city's main Chomsigkang market, sending out heavy smoke. A Western traveler using the name "John" told BBC World television that police had attacked monks near monasteries and said he saw military convoys moving into Lhasa carrying heavily armed troops. In a terse report, China's official Xinhua News Agency said people had been hospitalized with injuries and vehicles and shops torched, but gave few details. Tensions in the Tibetan capital have risen in recent days as the city's three biggest monasteries were sealed off by thousands of soldiers and police in a government crackdown, the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Asia reported Friday. The U.S. Embassy e-mailed an advisory to Americans warning them to stay away from Lhasa. The embassy said it had "received firsthand reports from American citizens in the city who report gunfire and other indications of violence." In Washington, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said, "Beijing needs to respect Tibetan culture. Needs to respect multi-ethnicity in their society. We regret the tensions between the ethnic groups and Beijing. The president has said consistently that Beijing needs to have a dialogue with the Dalai Lama." European Union leaders appealed to China to show restraint, and France's foreign minister said Paris was keeping its options open on whether to take further measures, possibly relating to the Olympics. Hotels in Lhasa were placed under lockdown at noon, said a hotel worker in the city. "No one has been allowed to leave the hotel, as protesters on Beijing Dong Road have turned violent ... we can hear shouting and a loud commotion outside, but cannot even look outside the windows to see what is happening outside, because they will throw rocks at us if they see us," said the worker, who did not want her name used or her hotel identified for fear of harassment by authorities. It is extremely difficult to get independent verification of events in Tibet since China maintains rigid control over the area. Foreigners need special travel permits, and journalists are rarely granted access except under highly controlled circumstances. Communist forces invaded Tibet in 1950, hoping to reclaim a part of China's former empire and command the strategic heights overlooking rival India. In recent decades, China has methodically begun exploiting the region's timber and mineral wealth. Heavy-handed rule Beijing rules the region with a heavy hand, enforcing strict controls on religious institutions and routinely vilifies the Dalai Lama, winner of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize who fled to India amid the 1959 rebellion. 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 -- whom many Tibetans consider their rightful ruler -- of trying to sabotage the games. The protests are a stunning show of defiance for Tibetan monks who are usually closely monitored by Chinese officials. On Thursday, monks in Lhasa started a hunger strike and two attempted suicide as troops surrounded monasteries in a government crackdown on the widespread protests, RFA said. They are believed to be the largest demonstrations in the city since Beijing crushed a wave of pro-independence demonstrations in 1989. Since then, China has pumped investment into the region amd tried to weed out supporters of the Dalai Lama among the influential Buddhist clergy. Protesters detained in India Beijing maintains that Tibet is historically part of China. But many Tibetans argue the Himalayan region was virtually independent for centuries and accuse China of trying to crush Tibetan culture by swamping it with Han people, the majority Chinese ethnic group. Elsewhere, organizers said more than 100 Tibetan exiles began two weeks of detention in northern India Friday after police arrested them during a march to their homeland to protest China's hosting of the Olympic Games. March coordinator Tenzin Palkyi said the exiles are being kept in detention in a state-run hotel while authorities investigate charges they threatened the "peace and tranquility" of the region.
What doesn't get mentioned in this report or anywhere else in the Western media is the fact that at least 5 Han Chinese civilians have been murdered by the mob, according to internet sources. It doesn't matter where you are, if you are a machette-wielding mob attacking firefighters, you WILL be shot by law-enforcement.
It looks like the mob is not just targeting Han Chinese, but Moslems and other minorities as well. So much for the Dalai Lama's claim of tolerance and non-violence. Many police badly hurt, mosque ablaze in Tibet: Chinese media BEIJING, March 15 (AFP) Mar 14, 2008 Many police officers were badly injured in clashes in Tibet's capital Lhasa, Chinese state media said Saturday, also reporting that a mosque and other buildings had been set on fire. Xinhua news agency blamed Friday's unrest on rioters "carrying backpacks filled with stones and bottles of inflammable liquids, some holding iron bars, wooden sticks and long knifes." It reported cases of burn injuries. Xinhua said the violence had died down Friday night, although wreckages of vehicles were left ablaze on roads in the area of downtown Lhasa where the clashes had taken place. http://www.sinodaily.com/2006/080314192427.nebu3lml.html
It is sensitive for the Chinese Government to take any violent response, considering the international negative impacts of their reactions towards Ti'anmen '89 and Ghulja Massacre. Personally I hope there'll be no more blood spilt, but people need to understand that any leader who has a worked brain, would never let a place like Tibet become an independent country. So pray that the Chinese gorvernment and Dalai Lama can work something out of this one, or it is going to get ugly.
Yeah good thing they gave up their gun rights. Otherwise that place would be DANGEROUS! Better to just let the PRC .gov take care of stuff.
ya sure. i am sure those people were just carrying big knives to the party to cut carrots. the fact is, they have beaten and killed many outside of their ethnic group. it's like back in 89, many soldiers and police were burnt and killed to maintain order. after that, they were ordered to shoot back. when you have a mob, they don't just walk around. they are rowdy, they'll do anything. any you are questioning the source? how about, all western sources are biased.
The Chinese government needs to put the proverbial foot down and crush this protest in its infancy before it gets out of control (it may already be, judging by the growing violence). Forget 'international public opinion', they already don't think very highly of the PRC government and they know it's not a democracy. This is akin to Darfur separatists or Kurdish separatists: political survival or international public opinion? Just ask the Israelis. Well, it's what Machiavelli would say...
There's just well, one thing wrong with that... Western media isin't controlled by a gouvernment that loves censure. Just sayin.
It is obvious that unlike the Burma monks, these Tibetans are not protesting in a non-violent way. That makes them hard to gain outside sympathy. I hope they heed Dalai Lama's call for non-violence.
isn't being controlled does NOT mean it's NOT biased. i don't think there are any unbiased news in the world.
Well, there are always sources that are more unbiased then others. With that said, I'll make a bold statement here and say this is evidence that Tibet and China cannot peacefully coexist as a "nation within a nation". Given the state of the world economy and everything else, I doubt Tibet will ever get its independance. But really, this is just a thorn to China's side, and I doubt there are any benefits at all to holding Tibet...
LOL - if the Chinese with their assault rifles, armored personnel carriers, tanks, etc are actually afraid of the Tibetans and their BIG SCARY SHARP KNIVES then this whole situation is even more absurd than I thought. Say - back when Chinese mobs were overturning Toyotas a few years ago, back when Junichiro Koizumi did something inforgivable like fail to apologize in the proper tone, I didn't hear you going nuts...wonder why...
LOL- it's not a nation witin a nation, it's been the longstanding policy (now scuccessfully enacted) of the CCP to overwhelm the Tibetans with numbers and make them outlaws in their own land. Now it has worked, and they are upset because the Tibetan chickens are coming home to roost. Note to CCP: when you occupy a country and subjugate its people- backlash is inevitable. Remember that in the future.
weapons don't kill people, people kill people. if the chinese soldiers were ordered not to use their weapons, it wouldn't matter what they carry. i don't remember the chinese mobs went on a riot and killed any japanese people they could find on the street. not what you'd call a peaceful protest, is it?
