US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi had harsh words for China as she met the Dalai Lama in India.
"The situation in Tibet is a challenge to the conscience of the world," said Pelosi, who was greeted by thousands of flag-waving Tibetan exiles as she arrived in Dharamsala yesterday for talks with Tibet's exiled spiritual leader.
"What is happening, the world needs to know," she said.
China stepped up its pressure on Tibetan protesters yesterday, releasing photos of wanted suspects who were captured on film in the worst rioting against Chinese rule in Tibet in nearly 20 years.
But with security forces pouring into Tibet and other Tibetan-populated areas of China, rights groups and activists warned of mass arrests and the possible torture of those taken into custody.
Faced with international concern over its handling of the unrest that erupted last week against Chinese rule in Tibet, state media acknowledged for the first time that police had fired on protesters.
After days of official statements that no lethal force had been used to quash the unrest, which has left an unknown number dead, state news agency Xinhua reported late on Thursday that four people had been shot and wounded.
It said police shot the four in Sichuan Province in "self-defense."
Pro-Tibet groups poured scorn on the report.
"At this point any statement the Chinese government puts out has virtually no credibility," said Lhadon Tethong from Students for a Free Tibet.
Officially, China has indicated that 13 people were killed in the rioting that broke out in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, and spread to other areas. The victims, it said, were all innocent civilians killed by Tibetan "mobs."
But the Tibetan exile government of the Dalai Lama based in Dharamsala said it has confirmed 99 people were killed in the Chinese crackdown.
China yesterday released a most-wanted list of 19 people caught on film taking part in the Lhasa riots, amid warnings by activist groups of harsh reprisals.
The photos, which appeared on top Web sites such as yahoo.com and sina.com, were from grainy footage taken during the unrest.
The state-controlled Tibet Daily later said two of the 19 alleged perpetrators had already been taken into custody.
The unrest has come at a sensitive time for China's rulers, with the Beijing Olympics fewer than five months away.
The US State Department is advising Americans planning to attend the Olympic Games in China to be mindful that they could be under surveillance.
"All hotel rooms and offices are considered to be subject to onsite or remote technical monitoring at all times," the department's Bureau of Consular Affairs advised on Thursday. "Hotel rooms, residences and offices may be accessed at any time without the occupant's consent or knowledge."
Americans with dual Chinese citizenship were counseled to travel on their US passport so that the US consular affairs office can help them if they are arrested or detained by local authorities for any reason.
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