Tibetan activists voiced concern yesterday over possible Chinese government retaliation against Buddhist monks who disrupted a stage-managed media tour of the riot-torn region's capital, Lhasa.
Dozens of red-robed monks had 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 had orchestrated the March 14 violence.
The outburst was the only spontaneous moment on Thursday in an otherwise tightly controlled government trip to the Tibetan capital. China has strenuously argued that the widespread arson and looting was a criminal act orchestrated by separatists, while refusing to discuss the root causes of the anger and alienation blamed for sparking the violence.
The protest and resulting harsh security crackdown has further focussed international attention on China's human rights record ahead of the Olympics.
"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.
Thursday's protest lasted for about 15 minutes before government officials ended it and told the journalists it was "time to go."
"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 reporters from foreign media outlets were escorted by Chinese authorities on a three-day visit to Lhasa that was to end yesterday. Other than the incident at the Jokhang Temple, 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, Tibet's exiled Buddhist leader.
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 on Thursday said the death toll was far higher than the government was saying.
"The cadres and the army killed more than 100 Tibetans. They arrested more than a thousand," he said.
Fu Jun, head of the News Affairs Office of the Propaganda Department of the Tibet Communist Party, said yesterday that 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 on 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.
Chinese state-run TV, which has widely covered the foreign journalists' tour, showed the Jokhang visit on its evening newscast, but not the monks' outburst.
All monasteries in Lhasa remained closed yesterday, a separate government official said, amid reports that monks had been held inside for two weeks.
"None of the monasteries in Lhasa are open ... it's hard to say when they will reopen. This issue is beyond our powers," an official with the Lhasa Tourism Administration, who declined to be named, said by phone.
In related news, about a dozen pro-Tibet protesters jumped the walls of a building housing the offices of the UN in Nepal yesterday, seeking UN intervention in Tibet.
Tibetans living in Nepal have been protesting almost every day since the trouble began in Lhasa and hundreds, including nuns and monks, were detained to break up their march to the UN offices.
On Friday, about a dozen Tibetan students carrying placards quietly scaled the walls of the UN complex and began protesting.
"They are sitting inside with their placards," a witness said from inside the compound in an upmarket area of Kathmandu.
Also see: Hunger strike supports Tibetans
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
SAFETY FIRST: Double the number of police were deployed at the Taipei Marathon, while other cities released plans to bolster public event safety Authorities across Taiwan have stepped up security measures ahead of Christmas and New Year events, following a knife and smoke bomb attack in Taipei on Friday that left four people dead and 11 injured. In a bid to prevent potential copycat incidents, police deployments have been expanded for large gatherings, transport hubs, and other crowded public spaces, according to official statements from police and city authorities. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city has “comprehensively raised security readiness” in crowded areas, increased police deployments with armed officers, and intensified patrols during weekends and nighttime hours. For large-scale events, security checkpoints and explosives
A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow yesterday morning, the latest high-profile army figure to be blown up in a blast that came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held separate talks in Miami on a plan to end the war. Kyiv has not commented on the incident, but Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces.” The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine. Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head
PUBLIC SAFETY: The premier said that security would be tightened in transport hubs, while President Lai commended the public for their bravery The government is to deploy more police, including rapid response units, in crowded public areas to ensure a swift response to any threats, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after a knife attack killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei the previous day. Lai made the remarks following a briefing by the National Police Agency on the progress of the investigation, saying that the attack underscored the importance of cooperation in public security between the central and local governments. The attack unfolded in the early evening on Friday around Taipei Main Station’s M7 exit and later near the Taipei MRT’s Zhongshan
RSS