A protester burns a Chinese flag during a protest in the Tibetan capital Lhasa, Tibet, March 14, 2008. REUTERS/Stringer
Protesters throw stones on military trucks in Lhasa, Tibet, March 14, 2008. REUTERS/Stringer
Buddhist monks from the Labrang Tashikyil Monastery stage a protest and carry the banned Tibetan national flag in Amdo Labrang, Tibet March 14, 2008 in this cell phone image. REUTERS/TCHRD/Handout
Police line the street during a protest in Amdo Labrang, Tibet March 14, 2008 in this cell phone image. Peaceful street marches by Tibetan Buddhist monks over past days gave way to the biggest and angriest demonstrations the remote, mountainous region has seen in nearly two decades, with anti-riot police patrolling the streets just months before the Beijing Olympics. REUTERS/TCHRD/HandoutFri Mar 14, 2008
By Chris Buckley and Lindsay Beck
BEIJING (Reuters) - Independence protesters burned shops and cars in the Tibetan capital Lhasa on Friday and Chinese police were reported to have shot dead at least two people, in the fiercest unrest in the region for two decades.
China accused followers of the Dalai Lama of "masterminding" the uprising, which shatters its carefully-cultivated image of national harmony in the buildup to the Beijing Olympic Games.
A spokesman for the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader called the allegation "absolutely baseless". The Dalai Lama appealed to China to stop using force and begin dialogue. Similar protests in the past have been crushed with gunfire and mass arrests.
Peaceful marches by Buddhist monks in recent days have given way to angry crowds confronting riot police.
"Now it's very chaotic outside," an ethnic Tibetan resident said by telephone. "People have been burning cars and motorbikes and buses. There is smoke everywhere and they have been throwing rocks and breaking windows. We're scared."
Radio Free Asia, quoting witnesses, said Chinese police fired on protesters, killing at least two. A source told Reuters two Tibetans were shot dead near the Ramoche Monastery near Lhasa. The deaths could not be verified.
"We are waiting to see what will happen tomorrow," said a Tibetan woman in Lhasa. "It could get much worse."
Up to 400 protesters gathered at a market near the Jokhang temple early on Friday and confronted 1,000 police, according to a witness cited by the Free Tibet Campaign in London.
China accused followers of the Dalai Lama of "masterminding" the uprising, which shatters its carefully-cultivated image of national harmony in the buildup to the Beijing Olympic Games.
A spokesman for the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader called the allegation "absolutely baseless". The Dalai Lama appealed to China to stop using force and begin dialogue. Similar protests in the past have been crushed with gunfire and mass arrests.
Peaceful marches by Buddhist monks in recent days have given way to angry crowds confronting riot police.
"Now it's very chaotic outside," an ethnic Tibetan resident said by telephone. "People have been burning cars and motorbikes and buses. There is smoke everywhere and they have been throwing rocks and breaking windows. We're scared."
Radio Free Asia, quoting witnesses, said Chinese police fired on protesters, killing at least two. A source told Reuters two Tibetans were shot dead near the Ramoche Monastery near Lhasa. The deaths could not be verified.
"We are waiting to see what will happen tomorrow," said a Tibetan woman in Lhasa. "It could get much worse."
Up to 400 protesters gathered at a market near the Jokhang temple early on Friday and confronted 1,000 police, according to a witness cited by the Free Tibet Campaign in London.
5 comments:
What is a bunch of gorilla?
Let them go to hell.
freedom and right is the only one core of the very life of all human beings.
Yeah, but it's all depend on what freedom and rights you are talking about specifically. Generally, you can't intrude on other people freedom and rights.
The chinese government has captured Tibet, but they could not capture the hearts and souls of Tibetan people.
Yeah, but what you are talking about is just a handful of troublemakers who think independent Tibet is better than being part of China. Normal people love being part of a bigger nation. That is also the idea behind EU, and ASEAN.
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