Chinese crackdown sparks more Tibetan tension

There was a heavy police presence Zhuoni in the province of Gansu where buildings were burned out yesterday after a protest in…

There was a heavy police presence Zhuoni in the province of Gansu where buildings were burned out yesterday after a protest in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa sparked protests on the other side of the border.

Zhuoni was one of several ethnic Tibetan parts of China hit by unrest. The area of barren hillsides and small, mud-brick houses is home to a mix of Han Chinese, Tibetans and Hui Muslims.

Roadblocks were set up in a bid to keep foreigners away from the area and identity cards for ethnic Tibetans were carried out. Buddhist monks, who regard the exiled Dalai Lama as their spiritual leader, were detained throughout the area.

China has accused the Dalai Lama of orchestrating unrest ahead of the summer Olympics in Beijing in an effort to highlight the plight of his native Tibet which is under Chinese control.

The Dalai Lama has denied the claim and called for an end to the weeks of unrest. He has advocated autonomy rather independence for Tibet. 

Beijing will receive the Olympic flame tomorrow but the response to the dissent has led to international concern and damaged the level of positive publicity China was hoping to attract.

The unrest began with days of peaceful, monk-led protests in Lhasa that spiralled into a citywide riot on March 14th which led to the death of at least 18 civilians though representatives of the Dalai Lama said 140 were killed.
Speaking in Laos on Sunday, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao repeated the government's assertion that the Lhasa riot was "violent and criminal".

"We hope governments everywhere and the media can approach and assess this matter objectively and justly," he said. 

Speaking in Slovenia, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern, expressed concern concern about the situation.
"It is important that the facts of what occurred are established and, in this regard, strongly urge the Chinese authorities to allow free access by the media and independent observers," he said.

He also urged the Chinese government to engage in discussion with representatives of the Dali Lama and said he had conveyed his view to the Chinese Ambassador and will meet representatives of the Tibet Support Group next week.

There were also protest in western China. In Sichuan province's Aba county, where police opened fire on protesters a week ago, 26 suspects were detained for their involvement, the state Xinhua news agency reported.
Police seized guns, bullets, explosives and knives in Aba's Kirti monastery, as well as Tibetan flags and banners advocating independence for Tibet, the report said.

The Tibet Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, based in India said more than 100 monks from the monastery were detained and that police raided rooms.

In Zhuoni, a woman said a general lack of education and opportunities for the young were to blame for the rioting in which shop windows were smashed and cars burned out and around 600 arrested.

Further north, near the town of Hezuo, a primary school was badly damaged by fire. One witness said that when armed police clashed with an undermanned the army force in the area.

Today, police said they stopped 200 Tibetan exiles and monks from storming the Chinese embassy visa office in neighbouring Nepal's capital Kathmandu.

At least 130 protesters were arrested and there were some injuries. Nepal has said it will not allow protests against any "friendly nation" including China.