China Admits To Shooting Protesters

CHINA has admitted for the first time that security forces shot at Tibetan protesters, as the military pushed on with a crackdown on volatile areas amid fears of mass arrests.

State media, after saying for days that no lethal force had been used in quashing the biggest Tibetan protests against Chinese rule in nearly 20 years, said yesterday that police had shot four people in "self-defence" in Chinas south-western Sichuan province.

The admission came as Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, met the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala yesterday and, in a speech likely to anger China, emphasised her countrys "great relationship" with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, while praising the courage of the Tibetan people.

Tibetan activist groups had previously reported that eight people were confirmed killed in the Sichuan incident on Sunday in the Tibetan-populated county of Aba, and possibly 30. They released photos they said were of the bodies of eight victims.

Beijings Communist rulers are eager to put the countrys best face forward in the run-up to the Olympic Games in August.

They have repeatedly insisted that the only people to have died in the various protests were 13 "innocent civilians" killed by Tibetan rioters last Friday in Tibets capital, Lhasa.

Tibets government-in-exile, based in Dharamsala, India, said this week it had confirmed 99 deaths in the Chinese crackdown.

In Dharamsala, Ms Pelosi received a rapturous reception from thousands of Tibetans lining the street, waving US and Tibetan flags and crowding the temple compound where the Dalai Lama lives.

"Today we are here at this sad time to join you in shedding the bright light of truth onto what is happening in Tibet," Ms Pelosi said.

The situation in Tibet was a challenge to the worlds conscience, she said. "If freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against Chinas aggression in China and Tibet we have lost all moral authority to speak on behalf of human rights anywhere in the world.

"Perhaps it is our karma, perhaps it is our fate that we be with you at the time," she said to great applause.

Tenzin Yeshi, 28, a student of traditional medicine, said: "It is very significant that she came now with the suppression going on in Tibet."

The protests began last week to mark the anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinas rule of the vast Himalayan region, amid widespread anger over what they say has been brutal policies.

China has sealed off Tibet from foreign reporters and tourists, while releasing images and television footage of violent Tibetans.

Yesterday, the last foreign journalist known to be in Lhasa, Georg Blume, of Germanys Die Zeit newspaper, reported that thousands of soldiers were on the streets. He has been expelled.

Chinese authorities announced yesterday that 24 people had been arrested and 170 had surrendered for their involvement in the Lhasa unrest, following a house-to-house sweep of the city.

Tibetan exile and activist groups warned that the Lhasa crackdown was being repeated throughout the other provinces, and that the number of Tibetans now in custody was likely more than 1000. They said this number was rising.

AFP, with MATT WADE

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