Posted on 03/14/2008 3:10:19 AM PDT by Hillarys Gate Cult
One of the largest markets in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, is in flames and at least one police car has been burnt as angry monks and Tibetans clash with police today.
The surge of violence follows almost a week of demonstrations by lamas from monasteries around the Tibetan capital, who have been demanding greater freedom of religion before the Olympic Games as well as independence for the deeply Buddhist Himalayan region.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Here is the AP story
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h5Z6bJwtN_roGSIUQiQnfbf2NkhgD8VD3DIO0
>>BEIJING (AP) — Police cars were set on fire Friday in the center of Lhasa as hundreds of people joined in the latest protest by monks against Chinese rule in Tibet, a Tibetan woman said.
“The police cars were set on fire in the center of city,” said the woman, who has family in the city.
The violence was the latest in a series of protests inside and outside Tibet which have put an unwelcome spotlight on China’s policies in Tibet in the lead-up to this summer’s Olympic games in Beijing. Tibetan exiles have also held high-profile protests in northern India.
The violence comes as Buddhist monks started a hunger strike and two others attempted suicide as troops surrounded monasteries in a government crackdown on the widespread protests, a U.S-funded radio service said.
The woman said monks set the police cars on fire after a demonstration near a small temple in Lhasa was stopped by police. She said the protest was still going on.<<
And this the earlier protest across the border in India by the Tibetan exiles that also got ugly
BBC also says that mobs with some numbering in the hundreds are destroying anything that shows Chinese influence.
Tension intensifies in Lhasa
TCHRD[Friday, March 14, 2008 15:42]
Lhasa reels under extremely tense situation at the moment. The situation intensified since this morning. There is smoke every where from burning shops and vehicles. Roads leading in and out of some of the busiest streets in Lhasa have been sealed off. Despite a huge presence of Chinese armed troops, the protesters continue to stage demonstration.
According to confirmed information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), around a hundred monks from the Ramoche Temple (north of Lhasa), while on their way to the streets around 10 am this morning to stage a peaceful protest, were blocked by Chinese armed police which led to minor scuffles between the two. The monks carried forward their peaceful demonstration which eventually grew bigger with bystanders joining them. Sources confirm vehicles and shops getting burned down in the commotion.
The police have cordoned off all roads leading in and out of Lhasa with armed paramilitary forces patrolling the streets. Sources confirm gunshots being fired to disperse the protesting crowd. No deaths could be confirmed at the moment. TCHRD will continue to closely monitor the situation and issue updates as the situation progresses.
At the time of release of this update, reports are coming in of a parallel demonstration by monks of Labrang Tashikhil Monastery and the area Tibetans in Sangchu County, Kanlho “Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture” (”TAP”) Gansu Province.
Contact person: Tenzin Norgay (English) / Jampa Monlam (Chinese and Tibetan)
Tel: +91 1892 223363 / 225874 / 229225
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7296041.stm
Shops on fire amid Tibet protests
Campaigners say several hundred monks have joined protests
Fires have broken out in the Tibetan city of Lhasa, Chinese state media reports say, as rare street protests in the province appear to gather pace.
Xinhua news agency said witnesses described shops being set on fire.
Rallies by monks have continued through the week, in what campaign groups say are the largest protests against Beijing’s rule in 20 years.
An eyewitness told the BBC how security forces and monks clashed on Wednesday, with several monks being beaten.
John, a US national who left Lhasa on Thursday, said that about 300 monks had tried to leave the Sera monastery to protest.
But security forces brandishing clubs stopped them and at least one monk was beaten to the ground, he said.
Quick guide: Tibet
India detains Tibetans
Meanwhile, the police were reported to have sealed off three monasteries in the city.
Witnesses said police were at Drepung and Sera monasteries on Thursday, and the US-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said a third monastery, Ganden, was also surrounded.
The ICT said it appeared that lay Tibetans had joined the monk-led protests, and claimed that at least one police car had been set on fire in the city on Friday.
US embassy officials in Beijing told the Associated Press that US citizens had reported gunfire and rioting in Lhasa.
Beijing claims sovereignty over Tibet, but many Tibetans remain loyal to their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who fled in 1959 and currently lives in exile in India.
Tibetans finally fighting back against Chinese oppression. But it is too little, too late. Their peace-loving Buddhist ways are admirable, their exiled leader is a wonderful man. Unfortunately, this very way of life and having no defense is the reason they are being destroyed. To watch an entire culture be systematically wiped out by the Chinese since the 1959 invasion has been heartbreaking, Tibet not longer appears as a country on World maps. I fear this uprising will be put down quickly, the Chinese will continue their slaughter of the Tibetan people. Peace can only be accomplished through strength.
IIRC, there was an anti-China force comprised of Tibetans, sponsored together by the CIA and Indian forces.
After the bonhomie with China in the ‘70s, this rebel force came to an end.
That's an awfully familiar name. Isn't that (almost) the same name as the climber who climbed Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary?
http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19980917/26050124.html
“The funding was part of the CIA’s Cold War effort to undermine the governments of Communist countries, notably China and the Soviet Union, the daily said.
The CIA also trained Tibetan guerrillas in Nepal and at a covert site in Colorado, it said, citing declassified intelligence documents released by the State department.”
Perhaps. I looked the Sherpa climber in Wikipedia; we lost him in 1986. Interesting fellow.
BTW, my response to China is I'm not watching the Olympics at all.
The Whole World is Watching! The Whole World is Watching! The Whole World is Watching! The Whole World is Watching! The Whole World is Watching!
A shame it didn’t last. And thanks for sending me the link to the other article.
I did see a piece last night on the news regarding Islamic terrorist groups encroaching in Western China, evidently there are pletny of Muslim extremist strongholds that are stupid enough to take on the Communist Chinese. That’s a fight I wouldn’t mind watching. Not in the least.
The Tibetan people are not only put down through force, but the Chinese are encouraged to move there, thereby diluting a great civilization to the brink of non-existence.
A more evil regime you would be hard-pressed to find. One of the few countries still operating gualgs......and we do business with them as a normal trading partner.
Sad what the world has come to.
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This probably isn't the BIG one, but still, big news.
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