Tibet protests a dilemma for China

Fire and smoke are seen along a street during a riot in Lhasa, Tibet, in this frame grab from China's state television CCTV March 14, 2008. Tibet's top government official Qiangba Pingcuo denied on Saturday that the regional capital Lhasa was under martial law. Independence protesters burned shops and cars in the Tibetan capital on Friday in the fiercest unrest in the region for two decades. Video dated March 14, 2008. REUTERS/CCTV via REUTERS TV

Officials want to quell strife but know world's eyes on Olympic host

March 15, 2008
By Evan Osnos and Laurie Goering Chicago Tribune correspondents

BEIJING — The largest protests in Tibet in two decades pose a political dilemma for Beijing as it struggles to contain the unrest that coursed through the capital, Lhasa, on Friday, leaving shops and vehicles in flames and reportedly at least 10 people dead.

The Chinese government, already facing international pressure to improve its human-rights record before the Summer Olympics in Beijing, confronts two unappealing options: permit protests to continue and risk broader unrest or clamp down and face scrutiny and censure from the world.

Varying accounts suggest that Tibet's three main monasteries have been surrounded by police and troop carriers, foreign tourists are confined to hotels, and ethnic Chinese-run businesses have been targeted for damage from angry Tibetans. Some Buddhist monks reportedly are on hunger strike and, in two cases, have attempted suicide to protest police handling of the demonstrations.

Scenes of smoke-shrouded chaos in Lhasa were described in eyewitness accounts and posted in photos on the Internet, and signs emerged that the unrest may have spread to other places. At least 10 people were burned to death in the violence, according to a state media report.

The scale and details of the events, however, remain hard to verify. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing "has received firsthand reports from American citizens in the city who report gunfire and other indications of violence," according to an advisory Friday. The embassy urged Americans in Tibet and especially in Lhasa to "seek safe havens" and "remain indoors to the extent possible."

As of late Friday, much of Lhasa was under a curfew. With only scattered reports of gunfire, Tibet experts said it appears, for the moment, that public scrutiny may have stalled or prevented a more forceful crackdown, though it is not clear how protesters will be dealt with after the initial violence subsides.

"I think we are seeing [public relations] considerations and I think that's helpful. They haven't used much shooting," said Robbie Barnett, the program coordinator in modern Tibetan studies at Columbia University. "It's progress, but we're not yet seeing signs that it translates into open-mindedness and not notions of punishment and retribution."

Tainted Olympics?

China has sent stern warnings that it will not permit unrest to undermine the Olympic Games. "Anyone who wants to sabotage the Games will get nowhere," Qiangba Puncog, the top government official in Tibet, was quoted as saying this week in state media.

With five months before the opening ceremony Aug. 8, the clashes in Tibet deal another blow to Chinese leaders already struggling to defuse foreign criticism that threatens to taint what China hopes will be a showcase of the nation's integration with the world.

Activists have brought pressure on corporate sponsors, foreign heads of state who plan to attend and celebrities involved in planning. Last month, Britain's Prince Charles said he would not attend the Games in protest of China's treatment of Tibet, and Steven Spielberg withdrew as an artistic adviser, blaming China's continuing support of the government of Sudan, which has failed to quell violence in its Darfur region.

The tension in Tibet comes just days after the U.S. State Department removed China from a list of the world's worst human-rights violators, despite objections from human-rights groups. However, China's "overall human-rights record remained poor" in 2007, according to the State Department's annual report released Tuesday, which cited stricter controls on the Internet and the news media and limits on freedom of religion in Tibet and the northwestern region of Xinjiang.

In a statement that also may reflect, unintentionally perhaps, the prospect of a wider uprising, President Hu Jintao told Communist Party officials this week: "Stability in Tibet concerns the stability of the country, and safety in Tibet concerns the safety of the country."

The protests have widened steadily since Monday, when police scattered and arrested protesters celebrating the anniversary of the Tibetan rebellion against Chinese rule in 1959. The protests in Lhasa—which began as part of a coordinated day of rallies in Nepal, India and elsewhere—have become the largest political demonstrations there since 1989, when Beijing quelled demonstrations by imposing martial law.

Tibet activists abroad are steeling for a major confrontation. Tsewang Rigzin, president of the Tibetan Youth League based in Dharamsala in northern India, said Tibetan exiles are determined make Tibet a major international focus as the Olympics approach.

"We are taking chances. We know how the Chinese have treated Tibetans in the past," he said. "But with the spotlight on them with the Olympics, we want to test them. We want them to show their true colors. That's why we're pushing this."

Speaking by phone from Dharamsala, where Tibet's government-in-exile is based, Rigzin said Tibetan exiles were particularly annoyed at China's plans to take the Olympic torch to the top of Mt. Everest before the Games.

The world's highest mountain "belongs to Tibet, not China," Rigzin said. "They're trying to show the world Tibet is part of China, so we're shining a spotlight on the brutal occupation."

'Raising the issue'

Rigzin suggested that Tibetan protesters had expected a Chinese crackdown in Lhasa. "Freedom comes for a price," said Rigzin, a native of Washington state who moved to Dharamsala in October to take over his organization's presidency. "We realize we can't achieve our goals overnight, but we have to start raising the issue."

Rigzin has this week been participating in a protest march from Dharamsala to Lhasa, part of a series of international protests. Indian authorities, fearful the march could upset officials in neighboring China, on Thursday arrested more than 100 of the Tibetan exile marchers after they ignored protests not to leave the district around Dharamsala.

Facing similar protests in Nepal, police dispersed demonstrators in Katmandu.

The unrest in Lhasa began Monday with a march by 500 monks from the Drepung monastery. They were followed by protests from monks at the Lhasa-area Sera and Ganden monasteries.

Security forces used tear gas to disperse the crowd, according to Radio Free Asia, which also cited "authoritative sources in the region" to report that two monks from Drepung monastery "are in critical condition after stabbing their wrists and chests" in a show of protest. Evan Osnos reported from Beijing and Laurie Goering from New Delhi.

eosnos@tribune.com
lgoering@tribune.com