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Diplomats call for unfettered access in Lhasa

Foreign diplomats demanded unfettered access in Lhasa yesterday after authorities allowed a visit to the riot-torn city amid debate in Europe over a boycott of the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony.

Two weeks after protests in the Himalayan region turned deadly, diplomats from 15 embassies, including those of the US, Britain, France and Japan, arrived in the Tibetan capital for a hastily arranged one-day tour.

"This visit is a good first step, but does not go far enough to meet the request for unfettered access," one Western diplomat in Beijing said after being briefed on the trip. "Obviously this has been a highly managed visit."

Upon arrival in Lhasa on Friday evening, the diplomats met with Tibet's government chairman Qiangba Puncog, visited wounded paramilitary police at a hospital and chatted with ordinary Tibetans, he said.

Yesterday morning, the diplomats were allowed to visit the Jokhang Temple, one of Tibetan Buddhism's most sacred shrines, where monks converged on a foreign media delegation on Wednesday and denounced China's rule of Tibet, he said.

"The chairman of Tibet reassured them [diplomats] that the monks would not be punished" for their Wednesday protest, the diplomat said.

China announced the trip late on Thursday night, giving the diplomats only hours to prepare for the long flight to the Himalayan region.

"They will carry out on-the-spot investigation of the real facts of the ... serious and violent criminal incident," the foreign ministry said.

It said other countries sending diplomatic representatives on the trip included Australia, Brazil, Canada, Italy, Russia, Singapore, Spain and Tanzania.

"The trip was heavily scheduled and neither the US nor other participants were able to deviate from the official itinerary," the US embassy in Beijing said in a statement.

"Among the issues the US participant raised with the Chinese government was the need for free access to Tibet and other areas affected by unrest for international and domestic journalists, as well as for diplomats," it said.

During the visit, the US also urged China to exercise restraint, to engage in dialogue and to respect the fundamental right of all citizens to peacefully express their views, the statement said.

Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers sought a joint line yesterday on China's suppression of the Tibetan protests, after discordant pronouncements on whether to attend the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games.

Diplomats said the 27-nation bloc would reaffirm its call for an end to violence and urge China to open a dialogue with the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, while respecting Chinese territorial integrity.

But ministers would not try to find a common position on the Olympics opening ceremony in August, other than to urge China to ensure the conditions of media freedom and human rights are met for a successful Games, they said.
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