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Tony_Balony
Joined: 12 Apr 2007
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 Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 6:01 am Post subject: Rioting in Lhasa! |
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BEIJING: Violent protests erupted Friday in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, as Buddhist monks and other ethnic Tibetans clashed with Chinese security forces in confrontations that witnesses say left a major shopping market consumed by flames and other shops burning inside the ancient city.
By Friday night, the Chinese authorities had placed some areas of the city under a curfew, including neighborhoods around certain monasteries, according to a Lhasa resident reached by telephone. The military police were blocking roads in some ethnic Tibetan neighborhoods, the resident said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing warned U.S. citizens to stay away from Lhasa. The embassy said it had "received firsthand reports from American citizens in the city who report gunfire and other indications of violence." |
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/14/asia/china.php
Last edited by Tony_Balony on Sun Mar 16, 2008 1:08 am; edited 1 time in total |
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igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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| Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 7:48 am Post subject: |
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China's "Curious" Olympic Terror Threat
By SIMON ELEGANT/BEIJING
Tue Mar 11, 8:30 AM ET
The dramatic news came in the midst of China's staid and boring annual legislature: a terrorist hijacking plot, perhaps meant to mar the coming Olympic Games, had been stopped. Security forces had thwarted a plot to "create an air disaster," Nur Bekri, chairman of the Xinjiang regional government, told reporters at the ongoing session of the National People's Congress (NPC). Apparently, on Mar. 7, a hijacking attempt by separatists from the Muslim-majority province of Xinjiang had been foiled. Initial reports stated that China Southern flight CZ6901 had made an emergency landing in the northwestern city of Lanzhou at about 12:40 p.m. after an apparent attempt to blow up the aircraft. The plane was en route from the Xinjiang capital Urumqi for Beijing.
The news however has been met with considerable skepticism outside China, particularly since details of the incident remain ... confusingly murky. According to the English-language China Daily, Bekri declined to give more details, only saying that the authorities are investigating "who the attackers are, where they are from and what their background is ... But we can be sure that this was a case intending to create an air crash." Some details began to emerge later of between two and four hijackers, possibly carrying gasoline.
But concrete information remained elusive.
Russell Leigh Moses, a China analyst based in Beijing, says that affair clearly provided the authorities with an opportunity to reiterate that the rulers of the People's Republic would brook no resistance to their will in troubled areas like Xinjiang and Tibet.
It parallels a growing security crackdown on public interest lawyers, activists and other dissenting voices.
Says Moses: "It's not what a lot of people outside China expected from the Games. I think there has been a conscious decision at the highest levels of the party that showing some teeth for deterrence sake is much more domestically viable than marching off into the unknown of reform and relaxation."
The paucity of details and the apparent laxness with which Chinese security officials treated the hijacking incident were particularly curious to Steven Tsang, a China specialist at St. Anthony's College, Oxford University. He noted that among the numerous anomalies in the accounts of the incident, the most glaring was that after stopping in Lanzhou, the airplane had apparently been allowed to continue its scheduled flight to Beijing. "This is more like an air rage incident in which you land and get rid of the troublesome passengers and then continue on to your destination. There's no way any anti-terrorism police would have released the plane and passengers to fly on without extensive interviews of the passengers, forensic examination of the plane and so on."
Tsang also noted that it was particularly easy to blame a shadowy Islamic separatists movement in the build-up to the Beijing Olympics, possibly as a deterrent to those or any other groups who might want to disrupt the Games.
Some observers also wondered at the timing of the announcement - coming as it did smack in the middle of the annual session of the NPC, when media attention is focused on the capital. "This is exactly the kind of thing that happens around the time of the National People's Congress," says Russell Leigh Moses of the China Center in Beijing. "Cadres who don't necessarily get noticed a lot normally want to be seen as publicly carrying out the orders of the central government."
Indeed, if there is anything that will get the attention of the central government, it is the threat of terrorism. Chinese officials routinely declare that terrorism is "the greatest threat to the Olympic Games," as Minister of Public Security Zhou Youngkang put it last year. China's security forces exercise iron control and virtually unchecked powers. And yet the paranoia persists, stoked over the weekend by the Xinjiang delegation to the NPC. Bekri was not alone in making his announcement. Xinjiang Party Secretary Wang Lequan joined in the tough talk:
"Terrorists, saboteurs and splittists are to be battered resolutely, no matter what ethnic group they are from."
The alleged attempt to blow up an airliner is the latest in a series of incidents relating to Xinjiang that have been made public in recent months. In January, the Chinese authorities said they had broken up a group calling itself East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), killing two and arresting 15 others.
Chinese media suggested the group "might have ties" ... to al-Qaeda. 
Last November, Chinese media carried stories detailing death sentences against five ethnic Uighurs, natives of Xinjiang, for allegedly plotting terrorist activities. Chinese authorities say a small group of separatists is attempting to overthrow Chinese rule in the province and establish an independent Uighur state. The Lanzhou incident is bound to increase scrutiny and repression of Uighur dissent - with a Chinese public eager and concerned for a successful Olympics likely to be supportive of any new crackdown. View this article on Time.com
Related articles on Time.com:
Slave Labor in China Sparks Outrage
Targeting the Olympic "Sweatshops"
An Olympic Reprieve for China's Convicts
Beijing's Spielberg Problem
But Can China Innovate?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20080311/wl_time/chinascuriousolympicterrorthreat |
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Tony_Balony
Joined: 12 Apr 2007
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| Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 5:36 pm Post subject: |
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Rioting Breaks Out in Tibetan Capital, Killing at Least 2
Last Edited: Friday, 14 Mar 2008, 7:13 PM CDT
Created: Friday, 14 Mar 2008, 7:43 AM CDT
03/14/2008 --
Protests led by Buddhist monks against Chinese rule in Tibet turned violent Friday, with reports of at least two killed, shops and vehicles torched and gunshots echoing in the streets of the ancient capital, Lhasa.
A radio report said two people had been killed, while China blamed the disturbances on followers of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled Buddhist leader.
Click here to see photos.
The largest demonstrations in nearly two decades against Beijing's 57-year-rule over Tibet come at a critically sensitive time for China as it attempts to portray a unified and prosperous nation ahead of the Olympic Games in August.
Witnesses reported gunfire and vehicles in flames in the city's main Barkor shopping district. Crowds hurled rocks at security forces and at restaurant and hotel windows. Many of the attacks appeared targeted at Chinese-owned businesses.
Radio Free Asia, a radio station funded by the U.S. government, quoted witnesses as saying that two bodies were seen lying on the ground. It said other reports put the death toll higher, but gave no figures.
Protests that began on Monday's anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule were initially led by hundreds of Buddhist monks, but have since attracted large numbers of ordinary Tibetans resentful of heavy-handed Chinese rule and a massive influx of Chinese migrants. Demonstrations were spreading to Tibetan areas outside Lhasa, a city of about 250,000, not including large numbers of soldiers and members of the paramilitary People's Armed Police.
In a brief dispatch from Lhasa, China's official Xinhua News Agency said authorities had evidence the protests were "organized, premeditated and masterminded" by the "Dalai clique."
"The violence, involving beating, smashing, looting and burning, has disrupted the public order, jeopardized people's lives and property," it said, citing an unidentified official.
No evidence was given for the claim, which echoed Beijing's constant vilification of the Dalai Lama as a separatist bent on undermining Tibet's stability and economic well being.
The Dalai Lama, who fled to India during the 1959 rebellion, says he seeks meaningful autonomy for Tibet under Chinese rule, not a separate nation.
In his first public comments on the protests, the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner on Friday called them a "manifestation of the deep-rooted resentment of the Tibetan people," and urged both sides to avoid violence.
Troops blocked key intersections and heavily armed troops were reported moving toward the city.
Meanwhile, photographs taken by camera phone and forwarded to journalists by the Indian branch of Students for a Free Tibet showed an apparently peaceful protest march staged Friday in Xiahe, a traditionally Tibetan corner of the western Chinese province of Gansu. Robed monks � some displaying the banned Tibetan national flag � were shown marching along a main street, joined by large numbers of lay people. Security forces with riot helmets and shields lined the way, but there was no indication of clashes.
In Lhasa, shops were set on fire along two main streets surrounding the Jokhang temple, Ramoche monastery, and the city's main Chomsigkang market, sending out heavy smoke.
"It was chaos everywhere. I could see fires, smoke, cars and motorcycles burning," said a Tibetan tour guide who spoke on condition his name not be used, fearing retaliation by authorities. He said streets surrounding the Jokhang temple "seemed to be on fire."
The guide said armed police in riot gear backed by armored vehicles were blocking major intersections in the city center, along with the broad square in front of the Potala, the former winter home of the Dalai Lama.
Xinhua said people had been hospitalized with injuries and vehicles and shops torched, but gave no numbers.
Tensions in the Tibetan capital have risen in recent days as the city's three biggest monasteries were sealed off by thousands of soldiers and police in a government crackdown.
The U.S. Embassy e-mailed an advisory to Americans warning them to avoid traveling to Tibet. The embassy said it had "received firsthand reports from American citizens in the city who report gunfire and other indications of violence."
Travel was also halted to Lhasa on Friday for foreigners, travel agents said.
Hotels in the area were placed under lockdown at noon, said a hotel worker in downtown Lhasa.
"No one has been allowed to leave the hostel," said the worker, who did not want her name used or her hotel identified for fear of harassment by authorities. She said staff were afraid to look out of windows "because they will throw rocks at us if they see us," referring to the protesters.
It is extremely difficult to get independent verification of events in Tibet since China maintains rigid control over the area. Foreigners need special travel permits, and journalists are rarely granted access except under highly controlled circumstances.
In Washington, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said "tensions between the ethnic groups and Beijing" were regrettable and reiterated the administration's calls for dialogue between Beijing and the Dalai Lama.
European Union leaders appealed to China to show restraint, and France's foreign minister said Paris was keeping its options open on whether to take further measures, possibly relating to the Olympics.
Asked whether U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had any reaction to the protests against Chinese rule in Tibet, U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said, "We are following that situation and we urge that care be taken by all concerned to avoid confrontation and violence."
Communist forces invaded Tibet in 1950, hoping to reclaim a part of China's former empire and command the strategic heights overlooking rival India. In recent decades, China has methodically begun exploiting the region's timber and mineral wealth.
Beijing rules the region with a heavy hand, enforcing strict controls on religious institutions and labeling as subversive most peaceful attempts to assert Tibet's independent identity.
Tibetans inside and outside the country have sought to use the Olympic Games' high profile to call attention to their cause. Beijing has accused the Dalai Lama � whom many Tibetans consider their rightful ruler � of trying to sabotage the games.
The protests are a stunning show of defiance for Tibetan monks who are usually closely monitored by Chinese officials.
On Thursday, monks in Lhasa started a hunger strike and two attempted suicide as troops surrounded monasteries in a government crackdown on the widespread protests, RFA said.
They are believed to be the largest demonstrations in the city since Beijing crushed a wave of pro-independence demonstrations in 1989. Since then, China has pumped investment into the region, attacked the Dalai Lama and tried to weed out his supporters among the influential Buddhist clergy.
Beijing maintains that Tibet is historically part of China. But many Tibetans argue the Himalayan region was virtually independent for centuries.
In northern India, organizers said more than 100 Tibetan exiles began two weeks of detention after police arrested them during a march to their homeland to protest China's hosting of the Olympic Games. |
Last edited by Tony_Balony on Sun Mar 16, 2008 1:12 am; edited 1 time in total |
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igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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| Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 8:23 pm Post subject: |
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Buddhist Organizations Come Together
To Support The Karmapa's U.S. Visit
Dear Friends in the Dharma:
On behalf of His Holiness Karmapa's Office of Administration, U.S., we are delighted to share additional information about the confirmation of the visit of the Seventeenth Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje to the United States, May 15-June 2, 2008. His Holiness will be giving public talks in three cities: New York, NY; Boulder, CO; and Seattle, WA. Very soon, we will launch the official website, www.karmapavisit.org. This website will present official information and details about the tour as they become available.
In February 2007, His Holiness Karmapa appointed The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche as the representative of his Office of Administration in the United States. The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche has been given full responsibility to oversee and direct the visit of His Holiness to the United States. One of His Holiness' key instructions to Ponlop Rinpoche is to work together to plan and implement the tour with all the sanghas who have submitted invitations to His Holiness.
Therefore, beginning in March 2007, Ponlop Rinpoche invited representatives from various sanghas to join the National and Regional Coordinating Committees for the tour. He also invited representatives to serve on the Sangha Advisory Board in each of the three regions where His Holiness will be visiting. Over the past year of extensive planning, many sanghas have contributed time and energy to make this tour a reality, on the coordinating committees and advisory boards.
They include:
Karma Triyana Dharmachakra and affiliates
Nalandabodhi
Shambhala International
Mangala Shri Bhuti
Centers affiliated with Venerable Kalu Rinpoche: Kagyu Droden Kunchab, Kagyu Changchub Chuling, Kagyu Dakshang Chuling,
and Sukhasiddhi Foundation
Satdharma
Naropa University
Centers affiliated with Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche: Vajravidya and Karma Mahasiddha Ling
Rigpa USA
Evam Buddhist Institute
Yongey Buddhist Center
May our energies gather together in a harmonious way, as one sangha family, to welcome the Seventeenth Gyalwang Karmapa to the United States and support His Holiness' work to benefit countless sentient beings.
Yours in the Dharma,
Diane Biray Gregorio and Mary Chung
Chiefs of Staff for the Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
H.H. Karmapa's Office of Administration, U.S.
If you have questions, please send an email to the planning committee in the city nearest you.
New York, NY: [email protected]
Boulder, CO: [email protected]
Seattle, WA: [email protected] |
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igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 6:19 am Post subject: |
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| Oh great. A dialog between the forum's biggest spammer and the least competent troll. This should really be a sparkling conversation. |
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Tony_Balony
Joined: 12 Apr 2007
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| Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 11:20 am Post subject: |
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There's more!
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Rioters Given Deadline to Surrender as China Locks Down Tibet's Capital
Saturday, March 15, 2008
BEIJING � As China clamped down Saturday on riots in Tibet, the Tibetan government gave demonstrators until Tuesday to surrender or they will be "severely punished," according to a notice issued by the high court, prosecutors office and police department.
China kept government workers confined to their offices Saturday and ordered tourists out of Tibet's capital while lines of soldiers sealed off streets where riots had erupted, witnesses said. A Tibetan exile group said at least 30 people were killed in protests Friday.
Chinese state media reported that at least 10 people were killed when demonstrators rampaged in Lhasa Friday, protesting Chinese rule. The Dalai Lama's exiled Tibetan government in India said it had confirmed at least 30 dead but said the toll could be as high as 100.
There was no confirmation from Chinese officials of the death toll and the numbers could not be independently verified.
Riots in the Tibetan capital Saturday are the largest and most violent protests against Chinese rule in the region in nearly two decades, dashing Beijing's plans for a smooth run-up to August's Olympics.
Also Saturday, police broke up sympathy protests in China's western province of Gansu, Australia, India and Nepal.
Streets in Lhasa were mostly empty Saturday as a curfew remained in place. Eyewitnesses described baton-wielding police patrolling streets as fires from Friday's violence smoldered. Reports of deaths and arrests were varied and could not be independently confirmed.
China's official Xinhua News Agency said 10 people � including two hotel employees and two shop owners � were burned to death, but no foreigners were hurt. The report did not give any other details.
The exiled Tibetan government in India said about 100 were believed dead, citing unconfirmed sources.
The unrest comes two weeks before China's highly anticipated Olympic celebrations kick into high gear with the start of the torch relay, which passes through Tibet.
Sun Weide, a spokesman for the Beijing Olympics organizing committee, said the unrest would not have a negative impact on the Games or the torch relay.
Preparations to carry the Olympic torch across Mount Everest and across Tibet "have been proceeding very smoothly and according to schedule," Sun said.
"The hosting of the Beijing Games is the 100-year dream for Chinese people and I think the Chinese people, including our compatriots in Tibet, very much look forward to hosting the Games," Sun said.
The United States and other governments have urged China to show restraint on the protesters, though International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge deferred, saying he didn't have details.
"It is not our job," Rogge, the IOC president, told reporters while visiting Puerto Rico. "We are not an activist organization."
China's governor in Tibet vowed to punish the rioters, while law enforcement authorities urged protesters to turn themselves in by Tuesday or face unspecified punishment.
"We will deal harshly with these criminals in accordance with the law," Champa Phuntsok, chairman of the Tibetan government, told reporters in Beijing where he was attending a legislative meeting. "Beating, smashing, looting and burning � we absolutely condemn this sort of behavior. This plot is doomed to failure."
He blamed the protests on followers of the Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule and is still Tibet's widely revered spiritual leader.
From Dharamsala, India, the Dalai Lama appealed to China not to use force, saying he was "deeply concerned," and urged Tibetans "not to resort to violence."
Over the centuries, Tibet was at times part of China's dynastic empires. Communist forces invaded the region in 1950, to reclaim the Himalayan region and seize the commanding heights overlooking rival India.
The latest unrest began Monday, the anniversary of the 1959 uprising, when 300 monks from one monastery demanded the release of other monks detained last fall. But political demands soon came to the fore.
The violence erupted on the fifth day, after police tried to stop monks from protesting in central Lhasa, ordinary Tibetans vented pent-up anger on Chinese, hurling stones and torching shops and cars.
"The protesters yesterday went from attacking Chinese police to attacking innocent people very, very quickly," said a blog entry by a group of Westerners staying in a hotel in central Lhasa near the riot. "Many Tibetans were also caught in the crossfire."
On Saturday, Xinhua said Lhasa had "reverted to calm" and electricity and phone service, which had been cut for parts of Friday, was being restored.
Some shops in Lhasa were closed. Tourists were told to stay in their hotels and make plans to leave, but government staff were required to work.
"There's no conflict today. The streets look pretty quiet," said a woman who answered the telephone at the Lhasa Hotel.
Tourists reached by phone described soldiers standing in lines sealing off streets where the rioting occurred. Armored vehicles and trucks ferried soldiers.
"There are military blockades blocking off whole portions of the city, and the entire city is basically closed down," said a 23-year-old Western student who arrived in Lhasa on Saturday. "All the restaurants are closed, all the hotels are closed."
Plooij Frans, a Dutch tourist who left the capital Saturday morning by plane and arrived in the Nepali capital of Katmandu, said he saw about 140 trucks of soldiers drive into the city within 24 hours.
"They came down on Tibetan people really hard," said Frans, who said his group could not return to their hotel Friday and had to stay near the airport. "Every corner there were tanks. It would have been impossible to hold any protest today."
Government workers said they have been prevented from leaving their buildings.
"We've been here since yesterday. No one has been allowed to leave or come in," said a woman who works for Lhasa's Work Safety Bureau, which is located near the Potala Palace, the former residence of the Dalai Lama.
"Armored vehicles have been driving past," she said. "Men wearing camouflage uniforms and holding batons are patrolling the streets.
It is extremely difficult to get independent verification of events in Tibet since China maintains rigid control over the area. Foreigners need special travel permits, and journalists are rarely granted access except under highly controlled circumstances.
The violence poses difficulties for a communist leadership that has looked to the Aug. 8-24 Olympics as a way to recast China as a friendly, modern power. Too rough a crackdown could put that at risk, while balking could embolden protesters, costing Beijing authority in often restive Tibet.
Phuntsok, the Tibetan government head, said no shots were fired.
In the western Chinese town of Xiahe, police fired tear gas to disperse Buddhist monks and others staging a second day of protests Saturday.
Several hundred monks marched out of historic Labrang monastery and into Xiahe in the morning, gathering other Tibetans with them as they went, residents said.
The crowd attacked government buildings, smashing windows in the county police headquarters, before police fired tear gas to put an end to the protest. A London-based Tibetan activist group, Free Tibet Campaign, said 20 people were arrested, citing unidentified sources in Xiahe.
Pockets of dissent were also springing up outside China.
In Australia, media reported that police used batons and pepper spray to quell a demonstration outside the Chinese consulate in Sydney. The Australian Associated Press reported that dozens of demonstrators were at the scene and that five were arrested.
Dozens of protesters in India launched a new march just days after more than 100 Tibetan exiles were arrested by authorities during a similar rally.
And in Nepal's capital of Katmandu, police broke up a protest by Tibetans and arrested 20.
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Last edited by Tony_Balony on Sun Mar 16, 2008 1:09 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Hyeon Een
Joined: 24 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 12:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Ya-ta Boy wrote: |
| Oh great. A dialog between the forum's biggest spammer and the least competent troll. This should really be a sparkling conversation. |
Anyway, on topic: Silly Tibetans. |
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igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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| Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 11:27 pm Post subject: |
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| Hyeon Een wrote: |
| Anyway, on topic: Silly Tibetans. |
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Tony_Balony
Joined: 12 Apr 2007
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| Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 12:30 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
Dalai Lama's Tibet bloodshed fear
The Dalai Lama
Profile: Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama has said he fears there will be more deaths in Tibet unless Beijing changes its policies towards the Chinese-controlled region.
The Tibetan spiritual leader told the BBC he had "grave concerns" over Friday's deadly protests in Lhasa city.
But he emphasised that he still supported Beijing's staging of the Olympic Games this summer.
Lhasa, Tibet's main city, was reported quiet on Sunday, locked down by a heavy Chinese security presence.
The Dalai Lama told the BBC he had received reports the death toll from the protests may be as high as 100, although he said the figure could not be verified.
Penned in
The Chinese official news agency Xinhua says 10 people died in Friday's clashes, including business people it said were "burnt to death".
TIBET DIVIDE
China says Tibet always part of its territory
Tibet enjoyed long periods of autonomy before 20th century
1950: China launched a military assault
Opposition to Chinese rule led to bloody uprising in 1959
Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama fled to India
'I counted 40 trucks'
Tibetan monastery tense
On Sunday, businesses remained shut, the streets were empty and locals said a curfew was in force.
The unrest erupted a fortnight before China's Olympic celebrations kick off with the start of the torch relay, which is scheduled to pass through Tibet.
The Dalai Lama told the BBC the Games were an opportunity for the Chinese to show their support for the principle of freedom.
The demonstrators, who on Friday set fire to Chinese-owed shops and hurled rocks at local police, have been penned into an area of the old town by government forces.
'Closed down'
A government official in Lhasa told AP news agency: "It is fairly quiet this morning (Sunday). The local people have been persuaded not to go out."
A shopkeeper in the city told Reuters news agency: "There are police checking our homes and handing out warnings."
Eyewitnesses described seeing military checkpoints, with vehicles and armed troops patrolling the streets.
Tank in Lhasa, 14 March (Reuters grab)
Witnesses said tanks were patrolling the streets of Lhasa
A 23-year-old Canadian student told AP: "The entire city is basically closed down."
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Saturday urged China to "exercise restraint" in dealing with the protests.
She spoke as pro-Tibet demonstrations were held in Nepal, New York, Australia and several European cities.
A British journalist in Lhasa on Saturday said police had used tear gas to disperse demonstrators defying a curfew.
The authorities in Tibet have urged the protesters to hand themselves in by midnight on Monday, promising leniency to those who surrender.
Unrest in Lhasa on 14 March
Stones were thrown and buildings burnt in Lhasa
The violence - the worst in Tibet since 1989 - erupted on the fifth day of largely peaceful protests that began on last Monday's anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.
The demonstrations - like those last September in Burma - were initially led by Buddhist monks and then attracted crowds of ordinary people.
Chinese officials said the riots had been "masterminded" by the Dalai Lama, an accusation he has denied.
Analysts say the last thing Beijing wants is bloodshed tarnishing its image before it stages the Olympic Games in August, but at the same time it cannot show weakness to the protesters.
Many Tibetans claim their culture has been brushed aside by Beijing and resent local Chinese settlers.
China says Tibet has always been part of its territory, although Tibet enjoyed long periods of autonomy before the 20th Century.
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Last edited by Tony_Balony on Sun Mar 16, 2008 12:52 am; edited 1 time in total |
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igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 8:05 pm Post subject: |
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| I frankly support the boycott. I don't see the point in rewarding the Chinese Government for what they are doing, though I know the Dalai Lama supports the games going ahead officially. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 9:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Adventurer wrote: |
| I frankly support the boycott. I don't see the point in rewarding the Chinese Government for what they are doing, though I know the Dalai Lama supports the games going ahead officially. |
Then look at it as something for the people of China. You know, the billion and a quarter people who are not part of the ruling elite? |
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huffdaddy
Joined: 25 Nov 2005
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| Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 1:11 am Post subject: |
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| Hyeon Een wrote: |
| Ya-ta Boy wrote: |
| Oh great. A dialog between the forum's biggest spammer and the least competent troll. This should really be a sparkling conversation. |
Anyway, on topic: Silly Tibetans. |
It's obviously an inferior culture. |
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igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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| Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 9:11 am Post subject: |
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| huffdaddy wrote: |
| Hyeon Een wrote: |
| Anyway, on topic: Silly Tibetans. |
It's obviously an inferior culture. |
IS that a joke, or are you being serious?
Dalai Lama 'To Resign' (If Violence Worsens)
The Dalai Lama says he will resign if violence spirals out of control
AP reports
Chinese premier says response to the protests was restrained
Streets of Lhasa quiet but under heavy security, witnesses say
U.S. urges Chinese restraint, talks with Dalai Lama
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- The Dalai Lama will step down as leader of Tibet's government-in-exile if violence by protesters in the region worsens, the exiled spiritual leader said Tuesday as China's premier blamed his supporters for the growing unrest.
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama gestures during a press meeting in Dharamsala, India, on Sunday.
"If things become out of control then my only option is to completely resign," the Dalai Lama told a news conference in Dharamsala, India,
The Associated Press reported.
A spokesman for the Dalai Lama later clarified that he was referring to his political role as Tibetan leader-in-exile, rather than his spiritual role, AP said.
"If the Tibetans were to choose the path of violence he would have to resign because he is completely committed to nonviolence,"
Tenzin Takhla told reporters.
"He would resign as the political leader and head of state, but not as the Dalai Lama. He will always be the Dalai Lama."
MORE ...
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/18/tibet.unrest/index.html |
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