March 13, 2008

The 49th Anniversary of Resistance

China admits Tibet monk protests
Chinese officials have acknowledged that Buddhist monks were protesting in the Tibetan city of Lhasa this week.
Unconfirmed reports earlier this week said as many as 600 monks had taken part in rallies, and that police used tear gas to disperse them.
Rights groups said the demonstrations were the biggest display of opposition to Chinese rule in Tibet since 1989.
US-based Radio Free Asia reported on Tuesday that dozens of monks had been detained as the authorities sought to crack down on dissent.
[...] Radio Free Asia reported that a number of monks were arrested on Monday after a march marking the 49th anniversary of a Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule.
[...] Matt Whitticase from the UK-based Free Tibet Campaign said protesters in Lhasa had been "emboldened" by the support they were receiving from across the world.
"Tibetans inside Tibet are aware that Tibetans in India are marching towards the Tibet border," he said.
Tibetan exiles in India began a march to the border with China on Monday - one of several events protesting against the Beijing Olympics and campaigning for an independent Tibet.
But Indian police arrested more than 100 of the exiles, saying their march breached an agreement between Delhi and the Tibet's India-based government-in-exile, headed by the province's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
[...] Beijing claims sovereignty over Tibet, but many Tibetans remain loyal to the Dalai Lama, who fled in 1959 and currently lives in exile in India. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7294014.stm

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