China keeps tight security grip on Tibet

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

AFP
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A Tibetan man (L) in traditional clothing watches as Chinese paramilitary troops in riot gear march in Guomaying

BEIJING (AFP) — China kept a tight security grip across the Tibetan plateau Wednesday and accused the Dalai Lama of behaving like a child for condemning its rule over the Himalayan region.

Authorities in Beijing showed no signs of making concessions after a storm of criticism on the 50th anniversary Tuesday of a failed uprising that led to the Tibetan spiritual leader's escape into exile.

The United States led condemnation of China's treatment of its six million Tibetans, but in the regional capital Lhasa, there was no sign of any security relaxation.

Residents told AFP by phone that the situation was calm, but armed police continued to roam the streets and people were still not allowed to go outside without identity cards.

"It's quiet here. But there are many police cars on patrol all day and night, and there are police at all of the intersections," one man who works at a Lhasa Internet cafe said, asking not to be identified.

It follows a huge build-up of forces to prevent a repeat of protests that have flared in the past on the highly sensitive anniversary.

Similar security was reported in other parts of western China with Tibetan populations where tensions have simmered since deadly riots 12 months ago on the 49th anniversary of the uprising.

In major towns of Gansu and Sichuan provinces with big Buddhist monasteries, residents said security remained ultra-tight and foreigners were banned from entering.

"We won't be receiving any guests until the end of March," a receptionist at a hotel in Xiahe, home to the famous Labrang monastery and scene of protests last year, told AFP by phone.

"Nothing has happened in recent days. But there are armed police on patrol. We feel it's better not go out at night."

A police vehicle (L) pulls up alongside a bus to check the identity papers of travellers

China's state media on Wednesday declared Tibet an earthly paradise, rejecting the Dalai Lama's claims that it had become a "hell on earth," and heaped scorn on the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

The vitriol in the official media came a day after the tense anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising passed in Tibet amid a Chinese security lockdown.

"This 'hell on earth' is precisely 'paradise on earth' for the ordinary Tibetans," the official Xinhua news agency said in one of series of commentaries.

In an address from the seat of Tibet's government in exile in Dharamshala, India, he said China had brought "untold suffering and destruction" to the remote Himalayan region once famed as a pristine, Buddhist land.

"The Tibetan people are regarded like criminals, deserving to be put to death," he said, adding Chinese rule had caused the deaths of "hundreds of thousands" of his people.

China's foreign ministry Tuesday described his comments as "lies," and the state-run Xinhua news agency followed up with angry rhetoric in a series of commentaries on its English-language service.

"In a way like a kid trying to draw attention from other people by crying, the marginalised old monk started a round of false accusations which were rhetorically flaring and demagogic but untenable in fact," Xinhua said.

Meanwhile, China faced pressure on Tibet from around the world, with the United States voicing "deep concern" over the human rights situation there.

Tibetan exiles worldwide also held protests to mark the anniversary of the uprising, supported by various lawmakers.

The city of Rome lit up the Coliseum in support of Tibet's struggle for more autonomy and in tribute to the Dalai Lama.

In the Czech Republic, which holds the rotating European Union presidency, the Greens party hung the Tibetan flag at the parliament building and the environment ministry.

In Washington, the House of Representatives was to examine a resolution urging Beijing to "cease its repression of the Tibetan people, and to lift immediately the harsh policies imposed on Tibetans."

Tibet's government-in-exile says China's crushing of the 1959 uprising led to the deaths of more than 87,000 people just between March and October of that year alone.

It also says more than 200 people died when Chinese security forces clamped down after last year's unrest, although China denies this and says "rioters" were responsible for 21 deaths.

Chronology of key events in Tibet since 1950