’Blood And Fire’ In Tibet As China Tightens Grip

PROTESTS spread in Tibetan areas of western China despite thousands of security forces sealing off Tibetan monasteries and communities in the provinces of Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai yesterday as authorities warned of a "life and death" struggle.

China announced the surrender of 105 people involved in last weeks violent protests in Tibets capital, Lhasa.

The riots, during which hundreds of Han Chinese-owned businesses and other properties were torched, and the subsequent spread of protests throughout Tibetan areas of western China are the most serious challenge to Chinese rule in two decades and threaten to cast a shadow over the Beijing Olympics.

"We are in the midst of a fierce struggle involving blood and fire, a life and death struggle with the Dalai (Lama) clique," Tibets Communist Party secretary, Zhang Qingli, told a teleconference of the regions Government and party leaders.

"Leaders of the whole country must deeply understand the arduousness, complexity and long-term nature of the struggle," he said in remarks carried online by the China Tibet News.

Mr Zhang also called for greater political control in the region. "We must continue to deepen our nationalist education and practically strengthen the building of political power at the grassroots."

While the Dalai Lama and Premier Wen Jiabao traded accusations of cultural genocide by China and an orchestrated campaign by the exiled Tibetan leader to disrupt the Olympics, there were reports of hundreds of Tibetans marching in the south-west of Sichuan, close to the Tibet border, for the fourth day.

According to Tibetan reports, the village of Riwa, in Daocheng county, has been the centre of repeated protests. A Tibetan academic in touch with those in Riwa said that on Saturday police opened fire, killing at least three people, while a policeman had his arm cut off during the fighting. About 4000 police were in the area, he said.

In north-west Sichuan, a witness said monks from local monasteries in the county of Seda joined other demonstrators on Tuesday morning, with protesters hurling rocks at security forces and shops.

Monks at the Kerti monastery at Langmusi, in northern Sichuan, said they were holding the bodies of at least eight protesters, aged from 17 to 64, shot dead by Chinese security forces during weekend clashes. Pictures of the bodies — some identified — with what appeared to be bullet wounds were released by the London-based A Free Tibet campaign. They included a 17-year-old student called Norbu from Shanglong village.

In neighbouring Gansu province, 400 to 500 Tibetans also marched on Tuesday, setting fire to a police station and a Government office, according to a monk involved in the protest. China has defended the crackdown and accused the Dalai Lama of being a "hypocritical liar" for advocating peaceful protests while masterminding the riots.

Premier Wen Jiabao said on Tuesday the Dalai Lamas claim that he wanted only greater autonomy for Tibet, and not full independence, could not be trusted.

With REUTERS

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