Tibetan tinderbox
For all the hype around Tibetan angst, Western longings to trash the Olympics are bound to flounder, argues Gamal Nkrumah
A monk comforts his companion who was beaten by police during a protest outside the Chinese Embassy in Katmandu, Nepal
The Dalai Lama's overblown performance as the defender of Tibetan cultural specificity was traditionally accorded standing ovations by Western leaders. His was the definitive popular mythology in Western minds of the downtrodden David standing up against the oppressive Chinese Goliath. Only last week, Nancy Pelosi, House speaker of the United States, sang his praises in no constrained tones. Applause for the Dalai Lama reached a piercing crescendo this week when the Tibet's spiritual leader complained that his people face "cultural genocide" by the Chinese authorities.
That game is now up. People all over the world watched ethnic Tibetan monks in Tibet and in neighbouring provinces of western China in their distinctive vermilion apparel torching ethnic Han Chinese property and challenging Chinese policemen. That was certainly no image of the underdog.
The rage, arson, the wanton destruction of property and carnage exploded in the Tibetan capital Lhasa and other Tibetan cities, even in neighbouring Chinese provinces with ethnic Tibetan minorities. Yes, there are disgruntled ethnic Tibetans in the neighbouring provinces of Xingjiang, Qinghai, Gansu and Sichuan. Yes, there are flourishing monastries in Tibet and elsewhere in western China -- Drepung, Sera, Ganden and the now notorious Ramoche Temple in Lhasa from where the current Tibetan insurrection was sparked. True, Tibetans are angry and emboldened as never before, hoisting eye- catching "Free Tibet" flags.
The most startling and glaring truth is that the West, governments and civil society organisations, are bending over backwards to accommodate Tibetan independence activists. This was symbolically caught on camera when a black flag depicting Olympic rings made from handcuffs, was raised right behind Liu Qui, the head of the Beijing Olympic organising committee in the vicinity of the Temple of Hera, Olympia, Greece. The perpetrators of this act of brazen audacity were none other than representatives of Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF). The organisation issued a statement lambasting China: "We cannot let the Chinese government seize the Olympic flame, a symbol of peace, without denouncing the dramatic human rights situation in the country," the RSF statement read.
Tibet, as the Chinese have long pointed out, has since the mid-13th century been administered by Beijing as an "inalienable part of China". The Chinese pleas have fallen on deaf ears.
Tibet has enjoyed an average economic growth rate of 12 per cent for the past seven years. Indeed, last year Tibet's growth rate of 14 per cent exceeded the national Chinese average. Moreover, independent studies suggest that last year alone, urban residents in Tibet enjoyed a 25 per cent hike in disposable income. So why are the Tibetans so angry today? Undoubtedly because this bounty is enjoyed almost exclusively by the Han Chinese who live in the cities, whereas the Tibetans continue to eke out a meagre existence in the rural backwaters.
A Chinese firewall has blocked offending websites, even though the BBC website was "unblocked in China" this week. Part of the answer is that there has been an influx of non- Tibetans who happen to control key sectors of the economy.
Moreover, the indigenous Tibetans feel swamped by outsiders, not withstanding a Chinese policy of permitting Tibetans and other ethnic minorities to have more than one child, even though the majority ethnic Han Chinese are restricted to one child per couple. The crisis in Tibet is not a question of demography; rather it is a matter of economics and its social consequences.
Ethnic Han and Hui (Muslim) Chinese, a group that incidentally control the butcheries and meat trade of Lhasa, have become the focus and target of Tibetan rage, because of skyrocketing meat prices.
The Dalai Lama is the big-talking standard-bearer of the Tibetan national cause, even though he insists that he abhors violence and adamantly refuses to condone Tibetan political independence by violent means. The Chinese grudgingly acknowledge the spiritual significance of the Dalai Lama. And, that could offer the chance of a historic rapprochement. However statements like the following from the People's Daily.:
"China must resolutely crush the conspiracy of sabotage and smash Tibet independence forces," do not help Beijing's cause. Such gaffes suggest a serious crisis, but not a political catastrophe.
The Beijing Games are in no danger of being hijacked, however, like the ill-fated Moscow Games of 1980. It is not as if China could be in for an unpleasant surprise. In all probability, the Chinese will organise the Olympics in spite of all the bad publicity Tibet has incurred.
But first things first. The situation in Tibet must be contained before the Olympics. Tibet has increasingly become a game of chess and Beijing cannot afford to be checkmated.
As far as China is concerned, containing the Tibetan crisis entails Herculean effort. The People's Republic could well stop the Tibetans with violence. China, however, cannot afford an outright clampdown. The Chinese authorities so far have refused to officially impose martial law in Tibet. The words of Mao Zedong come to mind: "If we cannot solve the two problems of production and trade, we shall use the material base for our presence [in Tibet], the bad elements will cash in and will not let a single day pass without inciting the backward elements to oppose us." In our own entangled era, his axiom stretches to the ends of the Earth.
The West would be wise to hold back from overtly backing Tibetan independence. Under these prevailing circumstances, perhaps Tibetans, too, can learn to make the most of association with China, and to partake of the benefits of the growing economic buoyancy of the country destined to be the world's economic powerhouse.
Why stay within a closed community when Tibetans can roam outside their walled paradise? There are echoes of the uprising that occurred 49 years ago. The two uprisings were triggered by the terrible thrashing of monks by the Chinese authorities. Now history seems to be repeating itself, albeit in a somewhat different form. International forces are at work, and openly against China's interests. Small wonder then that China's military spending has risen sharply in recent years. A recently released Pentagon report disclosed that the People's Republic defence spending shot up by 18 per cent in 2007 to reach $159 billion. The war of words between Washington and Beijing is in no danger of erupting into open conflict.
The ideal would be for Tibetans to continue willingly to be part of a People's Republic that recognises their legitimate complaints about the cultural and ethnographic invasion of Tibet and the need to acknowledge their beloved Dalai Lama as a religious and political leader, however constrained by the regime in Beijing.
So is it a question of rescuing the Tibetans from their own follies? To its credit, the Chinese government has shown considerable restraint though no willingness to address the grievances of the Tibetans.
There is no time to lose. It is a tragedy that has gone on for too long. Ethnic Han Chinese could integrate more peaceably with their Tibetan hosts -- and encourage the indigenous Tibetans to take advantage of the economic boom. Han Chinese cannot monopolise economic power, nor can they impose their version of the good life on a culture with very different strivings.
The mistrust between the Tibetans and the Han Chinese is tremendously corrosive. The enormous damage it could do to the world economy cannot be underestimated. The long hard task of fixing it must start now without delay. China faces many challenges. It is a question of priorities.
Caption: A monk comforts his companion who was beaten by police during a protest outside the Chinese Embassy in Katmandu, Nepal
C a p t i o n 2: A monk comforts his companion who was beaten by police during a protest outside the Chinese Embassy in Katmandu, Nepal
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Official: Tibet gov't to compensate businesses for riot losses
LHASA, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The government of Tibet Autonomous Region will offer compensation for businesses and business people who suffered losses during riots earlier this month, said a regional official on Thursday.
Baema Chilain, vice-chairman of the regional government, announced the policy in response to a question from a reporter of the foreign media tour of Lhasa.
His promise was echoed by Duan Xiangzheng, director of regional Administration for Industry and Commerce.
"The government will provide interest-free or government subsidized loans to help the businesses resume," Duan said.
According to official statistics, 908 stores were smashed, looted or burnt and 120 homes were burnt during the riot on March 14.
The reporters, from 19 media organizations including the U.S.-based Associated Press, Britain's Financial Times and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, were touring the Tibetan capital on a three-day official trip.
Lhasa is returning to normal after the riot, which led to the deaths of at least 18 civilians and one police officer.
It also left 382 civilians and 241 police officers injured, businesses looted, and residences, shops and vehicles torched.
新华网版权所有
FM spokesman: "Anti-CNN" website reflects Chinese people's condemnation
www.chinaview.cn 2008-03-27 23:19:47
<> alt="The website "www.anti-CNN.com " reflects public condemnation of some Western media's "distorted" reports of the riots in Lhasa, capital of China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said on Thursday. " v:shapes="_x0000_i1037">
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang holds a regular press conference on Thursday.(Photo: FMPRC.gov.cn)
Photo Gallery
BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The website "www.anti-CNN.com " reflects public condemnation of some Western media's "distorted" reports of the riots in Lhasa, capital of China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said on Thursday.
"It is purely spontaneous condemnation and criticism by the Chinese people toward some Western media's irresponsible reports which violated professional ethnics," Qin said at a regular press conference.
Qin was responding to a question concerning "www.anti-CNN.com", which its creators say they launched to expose the Western media's biased coverage of unrest in Tibet.
"What the Tibetan incident leaves us is a mirror which tells us the true colours of some in the international community," he said.
It includes a photograph on the CNN news network website showing people running in front of a military truck. The original picture uploaded by Chinese Internet users, however, also shows rioters throwing stones at the truck.
Tens of thousands of people from China and abroad have been angered by biased and dishonest reports about the riots in Tibet by some Western media, and answered calls to condemn Western media organizations for exaggerated and distorted reporting of the issue.
The Information Office of China's State Council has arranged a three-day trip for an international delegation of 26 journalists from 19 media organizations from different countries and regions, such as The Associated Press from the United States, the Financial Times from Britain, the South China Morning Post from Hong Kong and Central News Agency from Taiwan.
Lhasa is returning to normal after the March 14 unrest that was believed to be organized, premeditated and masterminded by the Dalai Lama group.
The unrest, involving beating, smashing, ransacking and arson, led to the deaths of at least 18 civilians and one police officer. It also left 382 civilians and 241 police officers injured, businesses looted, and residences, shops and vehicles torched.
http://www.anti-cnn.com/
This site is under construction. What you see is just part of what we've collected.
网站正在建设中，您看到的是我们收集材料中的一小部分。
本网站是网民自发建立的揭露某些歪曲事实的媒体进行不客观报道的非商业、非政府网站。
我们并不反对媒体本身，我们只反对某些媒体的不客观报道。
我们并不反对西方人民，但是我们反对偏见。
About This Site
讨论区 Forum
凤凰网：西方媒体造假录（共十二段视频）
Who Lie about Xizang (Tibet) Violence and How!
http://www.visfile.com/tibet.html
Tibet is not a "country"!!!
19fox
19n24
19ntv
19spiegel
20rfi
20rfi02
英国《泰晤士报》 Times
Unrest in... Tibet???
网友momozilla: 认清西方媒体卑鄙无耻的真面目
)
长期以来，以CNN、BBC为代表的西方某些媒体借新闻自由之名
对广大发展中国家进行了肆无忌惮的污蔑和诋毁
为了达到他们不可告人的目的
他们栽赃陷害、颠倒黑白、混淆是非、无中生有……真是无所不用其极
在对2008年3月西藏骚乱的报道中
西方媒体的表演再一次向世人展示了他们丑恶的真实面目
本网站旨在收集、整理并发布西方主流媒体作恶的证据
如果您看到任何西方媒体作恶的证据，请千万不要轻易放过他们
把它们保存起来并寄给我们
多收集一份他们的罪证，就是为我们争取到了多一点的话语权
我们关注所有西方媒体（不只是CNN），不限语言、内容（文本或图片）和国家
这将是一场反抗西方话语霸权的斗争
我们应该充分认识到这场斗争的长期性、艰巨性和复杂性
但无论怎样，我们都坚信：
西方国家妄图通过几个破媒体就一张臭嘴遮天的日子将一去不返了！
一位德国华人的来信：
你们好：
近日来，每位海外华人都真切的体会到了，在标榜"自由，民主，平等"的西方国家里，那些平面媒体，电视媒体，网络媒体，是如何颠倒黑白，扭曲事实，肆意诬陷的。西方媒体用尽一切手段（包括非常愚蠢低级的伎俩），妄图把西藏动乱的责任强加到中国政府头上，以此来迎合西方政客，愚弄西方群众，达到妖魔化中国，孤立中国，甚至分裂中国的罪恶目的。
不管是多么善于伪装的恶狼，终归要有脱下羊皮，暴露真面目的那一天。感谢此次西藏动乱，让很多（包括我）曾经对西方媒体怀有某种程度的好感甚至盲目崇拜的中国人，完整的看到了饿狼是如何一步步脱下羊皮，露出穷凶极恶嘴脸的全过程。如此生动翔实而有表现力的教材，是花多少钱都买不来的（要知道，越凶恶的狼，越善于伪装）。
倘若海外华人能把自己看到的事实汇总起来，以最真实的第一手材料，让更多的中国人认清西方媒体的真面目，岂不是一件很有意义的事情吗？
从我做起，希望有更多的朋友添加内容，转帖到各个国家华人社区，让这个帖子成为所有不公正西方媒体的曝光台，看看他们是如何侮辱，夸大，造假，栽赃的。
这次西藏事件，德国媒体表现的尤其猖狂，也是他们最先在所有媒体上发起抵制北京奥运的问卷调查的。
以下是德国热线的链接：
http://dolc.de/forum/viewthread.php?tid=694054&extra=page%3D1&page=1
希望大家实现信息共享，如果你们有翔实可靠的证据，也请发给我们，可以作为德国华人抗议媒体失实报道的游行材料。
水木网友crystalp：
sigh...难道只有在国外的时候才知道自己是一个中国人，知道自己要为自己国家做什么吗？每天在搭地铁的时候，看到每个人手中拿着的头版都是谴责中国，觉得自己就快要爆炸!!看着这些BBC,CNN尽说一些诋毁祖国的话，不仅政府回应不够强硬和有事实说服力，连国民
也无动于衷。于是伦敦的报纸有第二版的讽刺漫画，就是描画解放军在打喇嘛，而汉人就匆匆走过，视而不见，说not my business! 难道我们真的要被这些讽刺漫画说中吗？
大家一定要联合起来！
现在国外对中国的批判已经到了铺天盖地的地步，昨天伦敦报纸的头条刊登图片：大英博物馆中的一座兵马俑被挂上了“Tibet free us”的招牌，而且所有在场英国人都大声热烈鼓掌！我们是不是应该为祖国做些什么，同学们？！
认清西方媒体卑鄙无耻的真面目
-西方反华事件对中国有利！
对于中国来说，损失是有的。奥运可能少赚点。拉萨甚至还出了人命。但是，我们看到中国人空
前地团结起来了。这个团结是任何金钱都买不来的。尤其是在追求个人主义的今天，这种现象更是难能可贵。
这次事件还让中国人明白了西方所谓新闻自由的伎俩。他们扭曲事实的手段让中国人耳目一新，深受教育。这让那些思维日渐西方化、对西方抱有美好愿望的那部分中国人受益不浅。中国人、尤其是中国的知识分子不再随西方的指挥而舞蹈。这也是任何金钱都买不来的。 }+ b d8 T$ Y" n1 j, U x' G
这次事件，让中国在强大的西方宣传战中昂首独立前行。6 @) b5 W9 [0 Q2 w* Q- g4 H
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There are so many times that CNN distorted news about China and spreading misperception on China. Their reportings are nothing but polical propaganda aiming at spreading their deeply-held prejudice again China. They think they know China better than Chinese. They are wrong. Freedom of expression is captalized and manipulated by them and become freedom of distortion. Shame on CNN! ---one of the comments
I am a westner 一个西方人的声音
视频" e0 j$ Y1 f! m! q* i3 e
http://www.megavideo.com/?v=346A2F8E
erapidshare上的AVI视频：6 f& k/ B* [! J' j& _6 v' {
http://rapidshare.com/files/100658408/Tibet.AVI4 R3 t4 u8 A$ ^4 a7 Y
MPG清晰版：3 a5 H* Y: i* B5 V5 W
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=88CSVR7Y
第二段视频下载：http://rapidshare.com/files/100818111/Tibet2.AVI
第二段视频的另一个下载地址：
http://www.megavideo.com/?v=VWXBWRHM
N24新闻片段（感谢glasreiter网友）
整段新闻讲的是tibet，可采用的画面没有一幅不是nepal警察挥舞大棒的。
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EObYDv49ckQ
PDF文件( B% h/ ?$ C. }9 b4 F& N
加工成了PDF，方便大家)
http://rapidshare.de/files/38881032/Binder6.pdf.html
PPT文件, B- ]7 d- d! ~+ G) Y
http://att.newsmth.net/att.php?p.800.435422.288.ppt
一篇老外写的比较中立的文章：Eyewitness account of violence between protesters and police in Tibet
The Secret Truth about The Dalai Lama
CCTV视频：拉萨3.14打砸抢烧暴力事件纪实
看看无耻的西方记者的言行——3月20日外交部例行记者会
网站在建设中，还比较粗糙。欢迎大家发送更多检举材料,并欢迎更多的热心网友报名参与本站材料整理、网站建设和翻译工作。
如本站有任何不实的信息或不公正言论，也欢迎批评指正。谢谢！
联系email: anti-cnn@anti-cnn.com
You are welcomed to deliver new materials & images to us together with any suggestions , corrections and opinions. And you are also welcomed to distribute this PPT file freely to your friends, let them know the truth as well as this simple
email: anti-cnn@anti-cnn.com
http://www.anti-cnn.com
The Wall Street Journal Home Page
OPINION
The Cry of Tibet
By WANG LIXIONG
March 28, 2008; Page A12
The recent troubles in Tibet are a replay of events that happened two decades ago. On Oct. 1, 1987, Buddhist monks were demonstrating peacefully at the Barkor -- the famous market street around the central cathedral in Lhasa -- when police began beating and arresting them. To ordinary Tibetans, who view monks as "treasures," the sight was intolerable -- not only in itself, but because it stimulated unpleasant memories that Tibetan Buddhists had been harboring for years.
A few angry young men then began throwing stones at the Barkor police station. More and more joined, and then they set fires, overturned cars and began shouting "Independence for Tibet!" This is almost exactly what we saw in Lhasa two weeks ago.
The fundamental cause of these recurrent events is a painful dilemma that lives inside the minds of Tibetan monks. When the Chinese government demands that they denounce their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, monks are forced to choose between obeying, which violates their deepest spiritual convictions, and resisting, which can lead to loss of government registry and physical expulsion from monasteries.
From time to time monks have used peaceful demonstrations to express their anguish. When they have done this, an insecure Chinese government, bent on "annihilating unstable elements" in the "emergent stage," has reacted with violent repression. This, in turn, triggers violence from Tibetans.
In recent decades, the Chinese government's policy for pacifying Tibet has been to combine the allure of economic development on the one hand with the threat of force on the other. Experience has shown that this approach does not work.
The most efficient route to peace in Tibet is through the Dalai Lama, whose return to Tibet would immediately alleviate a number of problems. Much of the current ill will, after all, is a direct result of the Chinese government's verbal attacks on the Dalai Lama, who, for Tibetan monks, has an incomparably lofty status. To demand that monks denounce him is about as practical as asking that they vilify their own parents.
It should be no surprise that beatings of monks and closings of monasteries naturally stimulate civil unrest, or that civil unrest, spawned in this way, can turn violent.
Why aren't these simple truths more obvious? Phuntsog Wanggyal, a Tibetan now retired in Beijing who for years was a leading Communist official in Tibet, has observed that a doctrine of "anti-splittism" has taken root among Chinese government officials who deal with religion and minority affairs, both in central offices in Beijing and in Tibet. Having invested their careers in anti-splittism, these people cannot admit that the idea is mistaken without losing face and, they fear, losing their own power and position as well.
Their ready-made tag for everything that goes wrong is "hostile foreign forces" -- an enemy that justifies any kind of harsh or unreasoning repression. When repeated endlessly, anti-splittism, although originally vacuous, does take on a kind of solidity. Careers are made in it, and challenging it becomes impossible.
I am a supporter of the Dalai Lama's "middle way," meaning autonomy for Tibet in all matters except foreign affairs and national defense. This arrangement eventually would have to mean that Tibetan people select their own leaders -- and that would be a major change from the way things are now. Tibet is called an "autonomous region," but in fact its officials are all named by Beijing, and are all tightly focused on their own personal interests and the interests of the Communist Party. Tibetans can clearly see the difference between this kind of government and self-rule, and there is no way that they will support bogus autonomy.
It follows -- even if this is a tall order -- that the ultimate solution to the Tibet problem must be democratization of the Chinese political system itself. True autonomy cannot come any other way.
It is time for the Chinese government to take stock of why its long-term strategy in Tibet has not worked, and to try something else. The old problems remain, and they are sure to continue, perhaps in places like the "Uighur Autonomous Region" of Xinjiang, if a more sensible approach is not attempted.
Mr. Wang, a Beijing-based writer, was the organizer of the recent 12-point statement on Tibet by 30 Chinese intellectuals. This article was translated from the Chinese by Princeton University Prof. Perry Link.
washingtonpost.com
Letters to the Editor
Thanks From the Dalai Lama
Friday, March 28, 2008; A18
The March 21 article "Privately, Bush Presses China Over Crackdown on Tibet" mentioned that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) had received a letter of thanks from His Holiness the Dalai Lama for the senator's statement on the situation in Tibet.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has also written letters of thanks to Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and to other members of Congress for their strong statements in support of his message urging restraint and dialogue at this pivotal moment in Tibet's history.
The support of the American people is greatly appreciated by all Tibetans.
This was evidenced last week in Dharmsala, India, when thousands of Tibetans came out to hear the inspiring words of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who was in India with other members of Congress to meet with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
TASHI WANGDI
New York
The writer is U.S. representative of the Dalai Lama.
guardian.co.uk logo
Police Close Muslim Quarter in Lhasa
* AP foreign
* , Friday March 28 2008
By CHARLES HUTZLER
Associated Press Writer
LHASA, China (AP) - Police closed off Lhasa's Muslim quarter on Friday, two weeks after Tibetan rioters burned down the city's mosque amid the largest anti-Chinese protests in nearly two decades.
Officers blockaded streets into the area, allowing in only residents and worshippers observing the Muslim day of prayer. A heavy security presense lingered in other parts of Lhasa's old city as clean-up crews waded through the destruction inflicted when days of initially peaceful protests turned deadly on March 14.
It was not clear why the area was cordoned off, although rioters had prominently targeted businesses belonging to Chinese Muslim migrants known as Hui, who control much of Lhasa's commerce.
The protests were the longest and most-sustained challenge to China's rule in the Himalayan region since 1989. The ensuing crackdown by Chinese authorities has focused international attention on China's human rights record in the runup to the Olympic Games.
China has faced growing calls from the United States and other nations to open a dialogue with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, along with suggestions from some leaders that they were considering boycotting the Olympics' opening ceremony in protest at Beijing's handling of the Tibetan situation.
Apparently as a result of the pressure, the Foreign Ministry is allowing a group of foreign diplomats to visit Lhasa on Friday and Saturday.
A U.S. diplomat will be on that trip, said U.S. Embassy Spokeswoman Susan Stevenson. She had no other details.
A woman who answered the phone at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said she did not know about the trip. She would not give her name, as is common among Chinese bureaucrats.
A small group of foreign journalists, including an Associated Press reporter, was taken to Lhasa earlier in the week on a three-day government-organized trip that ends Friday.
The otherwise tightly scripted visit was disrupted when 30 red-robed monks pushed into a briefing being given by officials at the Jokhang Temple on Thursday, complaining of a lack of religious freedom and denouncing official claims that the Dalai Lama orchestrated the March 14 violence.
``What the government is saying is not true,'' one monk shouted out.
``They killed many people. They killed many people,'' another monk said, referring to Chinese security forces.
The outburst by the monks lasted for about 15 minutes before government officials ended it and told the journalists it was ``time to go.''
China has strenuously argued that the widespread arson and looting were criminal acts orchestrated by separatists, while refusing to discuss the root causes of the anger and alienation blamed for sparking the violence.
A vice governor of Tibet, Baima Chilin, later told reporters the monks would not be punished.
However, Tibet activists on Friday, voiced concern over possible Chinese government retaliation against the Buddhist monks.
``There are serious fears for the welfare and whereabouts'' of the monks, the International Campaign for Tibet said in a statement.
``The monks' peaceful protest shattered the authorities' plans to convey an image that the situation in Lhasa was under control after recent demonstrations and rioting,'' it said.
Other than the incident at the Jokhang, one of Tibetan Buddhism's holiest shrines, most of the second day of the tour went according to plan, with officials sticking to the government line that the most violent anti-Chinese protests in nearly two decades were plotted by supporters of the Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama has denied the accusations and threatened to resign as head of the India-based Tibetan government-in-exile if the violence continued.
The protests had initially started out peacefully among monks in Lhasa on March 10, the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. But four days later, they spiraled into violence. Tibetans torched hundreds of buildings and attacked members of China's dominant Han ethnic group and Chinese Muslims known as Hui, who have dominated commerce in the city.
A staffer at the China Tibet Information Center said there were approximately 1,500 Muslims in Lhasa. Officials with the Lhasa government and Religious Affairs Bureau said they did not know how many Muslims were in Lhasa.
The government says at least 22 people have died in Lhasa; Tibetan rights groups say nearly 140 Tibetans were killed, including 19 in Gansu province.
One of the monks protesting Thursday said the death toll was far higher than the government was saying, but did not give the source of his information.
``The cadres and the army killed more than 100 Tibetans. They arrested more than a thousand,'' he said.
After the violent 1989 uprising in Lhasa, Tibetans claimed many more Tibetans died than the official toll of 16 because families feared punishment if participants went to hospitals.
Fu Jun, head of the News Affairs Office of the Propaganda Department of the Tibet Communist Party, said Friday the monks were spreading rumors.
``We are keeping an open mind about their complaints. The rumor is misleading the media without a shred of evidence ... We will clear up facts in a few days time when appropriate,'' Fu said.
The Chinese-installed vice governor of Tibet, Baima Chilin, told the reporters late Thursday that the monks would not be punished for their outburst.
``We will never do anything to them. We will never detain anyone you met on the streets of Lhasa. I don't think any government would do such a thing,'' he said.
State TV, which has widely covered the foreign journalists' tour, showed the Jokhang visit on its evening newscast, but not the monks' outburst.
Journalists were taken Friday morning to interview members of the Communist Party-run Buddhist Association, who reiterated standard Chinese accusations against the Dalai Lama.
``This was premeditated,'' said Drubkang, a reincarnated lama and member of Beijing's top government advisory body, who like many Tibetans uses just one name.
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BBC calls in police after Beijing staff files disappear
* Owen Gibson, media correspondent
* The Guardian,
* Friday March 28 2008
* Article history
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This article appeared in the Guardian on Friday March 28 2008 on p4 of the UK news section. It was last updated at 00:03 on March 28 2008.
The BBC has called in the police and launched a review of internal security after the apparent theft of files containing the personal details of hundreds of staff due to cover the Beijing Olympics.
The two files went missing from an office in BBC Television Centre in west London sometime after March 14 and are believed to include the details of several high-profile news and sport presenters, including Huw Edwards, Gabby Logan, Sue Barker and Steve Cram. After an internal investigation failed to find them, the police were called.
According to an internal email sent to the staff concerned, the accreditation forms included their full name, passport information, date of birth, home address and a photo. "At this stage of the investigation and on the basis of a wide range of internal and external advice we have no sense that this loss is likely to cause you to suffer financial loss or identity fraud," the BBC's director of sport, Roger Mosey, told staff in the email.
"I know that the loss of the documents is inevitably a cause for concern but I want to assure you that the BBC is doing everything to recover the data and to minimise any risks that might ensue."
The BBC has faced criticism from rivals and some MPs about the number of staff it sends to cover big news and sporting events. It is sending 437 people to Beijing, 33 more than to the Athens games four years ago, but claims they will provide twice as much output across television, radio and the web. The files, which were being held as back-up copies, are understood to include the details of all staff covering the games across its news, sport and regional services.
The corporation is planning an external audit of its security systems.
The internal review will report by the end of next week. It has also set up a hotline for concerned staff.
NDTV.COM
India
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080045238#
China slams Indian media over Tibet issue
China slams Indian media over Tibet issue
Indo-Asian News Service
Thursday, March 27, 2008 (New Delhi)
The Chinese envoy to India, Zhang Yan, has said that the Tibetan unrest had been blown out of proportion by the Indian media, even as India sought to play down the cancellation of Commerce Minister Kamal Nath's visit to Beijing.
''Your media have blown it out of proportion,'' said Zhang Yan, China's Ambassador to India, as he rushed to his car after attending a seminar of experts from Russia, India and China.
His statement was in reply to a query if he was satisfied with the security around the embassy due to heightened threat from Tibetan activists.
The Chinese embassy has been under blanket security cover since the Lhasa riots broke out earlier in March, which led Tibetan activists to breach the security cordon repeatedly.
They even managed to get inside the embassy compound last Friday, which reportedly caused Beijing to summon Indian ambassador Nirupama Rao for a late night meeting.
After Kamal Nath's visit to China next week was cancelled, there was media speculation that the action was in retaliation for Beijing's alleged diplomatic high-handedness.
However, the Indian minister on Thursday denied the visit cancellation had any diplomatic overtones.
''My trip has not been called off because of any diplomatic reasons. My trip was cancelled because of problems in dates,'' Nath clarified on the margins on an event to release a report prepared by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission in New Delhi.
''We had to cancel the trip for the time being and we will seek fresh dates,'' Nath said.
The Chinese ambassador also held a meeting with Home Minister Shivraj Patil to discuss the security detail for the passage of the Olympic torch through India.
China has been concerned that journey of the Olympic flame will be disrupted by Tibetan protestors as India hosts the largest number of Tibetan refugees in the world.
India, on Wednesday, promised watertight security for the Olympic torch relay as it passes through the country during a five-continent odyssey ahead of the opening of the Olympic games in Beijing in August.
''We will make special arrangements (for the torch relay). We will make all possible arrangements for the event,'' National Security Advisor M K Narayanan said.
NDTV.COM
India
Give up double standard: China to Europe
Give up double standard: China to Europe
Press Trust of India
Thursday, March 27, 2008 (Beijing)
China has said that Tibet is ''totally an internal'' affair and that it firmly opposes any outside interference.
The response of China has come in the wake of major powers turning the heat on it with calls to maintain restraint and resume dialogue with Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
''The Tibetan issue is totally an internal affair of China and brooks no interference,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters in Beijing as US and European countries piled more pressure on it to hold talks with the Dalai Lama and expressed concern over its handling of the unrest in Tibet.
China also bluntly told European countries not to adopt ''double standards,'' as France joined other nations in the chorus with its President Nicolas Sarkozy saying ''all options are'' open regarding a possible boycott of the opening ceremony of the Olympics here in August. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said he could not tolerate China's crackdown.
''I believe there are criminals, especially violent criminals in the European countries. How do the police handle these cases in Europe? So, I hope Europe will not adopt double standards,'' Qin said.
He further added, ''I hope people will not adopt double standards and send any erroneous messages to the Dalai clique (supporters of the Dalai Lama).''
Qin insisted, ''Tibet is an internal issue. China firmly opposes any country's interference in Tibet affairs and China's internal affairs. We request the relevant countries to respect our sovereignty and territorial integrity and extensively recognised international laws and not to facilitate the Dalai clique and his separatist activities.''
China, he said, had the ''determination and competence'' to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
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