Police amass in Tibet as more protests break out
China scrambles to control the latest uprisings that have spread across communities. Sympathy demonstrations are reported around the world.
XIAHE, CHINA — As undercover police prowled through crowds of pilgrims bedecked in traditional embroidered Tibetan costumes, the monk in the bright purple robe looked around to make sure no one was watching. Then he smiled defiantly, raised his fist and proclaimed, "We're going back to the monastery now."
Hours earlier today, in a new eruption of long-hidden Tibetan resolve and pride that has challenged the Beijing regime just months before it hosts the Summer Olympics, monks and ordinary residents reportedly attacked a police station, overturned cars and raised a banned national flag in this holy city on the edge of the Tibetan plateau.
Hundreds of police moved in, blocking access to the sprawling Labrang monastery complex, one of the most revered sites in Tibetan Buddhism.
The London-based Free Tibet Campaign said 20 people were arrested in the ensuing violence, and a local official said seven people were injured, as authorities scrambled to quell the worst protests against Chinese dominion over Tibet in two decades.
Although the massive police presence here was designed to intimidate residents with a show of power, it also suggests how worried and insecure Beijing is at the prospect of losing political control, analysts said.
The spread in recent days of protests from Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, to neighboring communities and now here in adjoining Gansu province is a major concern for a regime trying to project an image of control, confidence and cultural refinement in advance of the Beijing Olympics.
"The fact that it's now happening at the far reaches of Tibet must be very serious for the authorities," said Robbie Barnett, a professor at Columbia University. "It does seem like we're entering a new chapter. . . . This sounds like a real political challenge to the government."
The last several days of unrest were sparked Monday when 300 monks in Lhasa challenged Beijing to release several imprisoned colleagues on the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.
Protests then spread to other monasteries around Lhasa, then farther afield. Sympathy demonstrations were reported today in Australia, India and Nepal. Reports of deaths in the Tibet demonstrations varied today, with the government saying that seven people had been killed but Tibetan activist groups suggesting the death toll was higher.
