Some "personal re****ts" coming out of Tibet. The DL will need some
serious spin control.
I Dalai's description on Lhasa riot ridiculous
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/17/content_7805332.htm
BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Qiangba Puncog, Tibet Autonomous
Regional Government chairman, said Monday morning at a news briefing
that the Dalai clique's version on describing the latest riot in Lhasa
and echoing tilted news coverage of some Western media are
"ridiculous."
They are confusing right and wrong while labeling the riot as
"peaceful demonstration", and slandering efforts of local law
enforcement to keeping order as "crackdown on the peaceful
demonstration," Qiangba Puncog said.
"I'm so indignant to hear that the Dalai clique and some
Westerners called the severe violence as 'peaceful demonstration',"
the chairman said.
"It's further more ridiculous that those people distorted the
efforts of our law enforcers to keeping people safe and society order
as 'crackdown on the peaceful demonstration'," he said.
Partly in response to the tilted Western coverage on the Lhasa
riot, Qiangba Puncog said, "I would like to know whether there is any
government preaching democracy and advocating rule of law could
sufficiently tolerate such violence."
Qiangba Puncog said the law enforcers who were sent to violent
scenes kept great restraint and strictly abided by the enforcement
rules.
"To the best of my knowledge," he said, "nobody in our law
enforcement teams carried or used lethal weapons all the time."
===================================================
II 61 police injured, six seriously, in Lhasa riot
www.chinaview.cn 2008-03-17 10:34:16
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/17/content_7805260.htm
BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Sixty-one police were injured in
last Friday's riot in Lhasa, six of them seriously, said Qiangba
Pungcog, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Government, at a
press briefing in Beijing on Monday.
Rioters attacked public security personnel in an extremely cruel
manner while they were maintaining order and refrained from using
weapons, said the chairman.
"For instance, the rioters beat a patrolling police officer until
he got into coma, and rioters cut out a piece of flesh, as big as a
fist, from his buttock," he said.
Some rioters stoned patrol officers around 11:00 a.m. on March 14
at the Ramogia Monastery in Lhasa. They then gathered around the
Bargor street, chanting "independence" slogans and going on a
destruction rampage.
The violence accelerated quickly. The mob set fire to shops,
vehicles and pedestrians that passed by. Schools, banks, hospitals and
communication facilities were also their targets, Qiangba Pungcog
said.
He stressed that throughout the incident, both public security
personnel and armed police exercised restraint, and showed great
professional spirit and adherence to law. "They didn't carry or use
any lethal weapons," he added.
=======================================================
III 13 civilians burned or stabbed to death in Lhasa riot
www.chinaview.cn 2008-03-17 10:27:48 Print
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/17/content_7805191.htm
BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Thirteen innocent civilians were
burned or stabbed to death in last Friday's Lhasa riot, said Qiangba
Puncog, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Government, at a
news briefing in Beijing on Monday.
He cited two cases of what he described as brutality.
In one case, a civilian was re****tedly doused in gasoline by
rioters and burned to death alive. In the second case, rioters beat a
patrol policeman unconscious, and then cut a piece of flesh from his
buttocks.
"People of all ethnic groups in Tibet were indignant about
violence and brutality displayed in Lhasa and strongly condemn them,"
said Qiangba Puncog.
Tibet Autonomous Regional authorities responded quickly, and
mobilized security personnel to deal with the riots in accordance with
law, he said.
The security personnel also helped extinguish fires, rescue the
injured, and protect schools, hospitals, banks and government
institutions, he said.
"We adopted these measures with the purpose of safeguarding social
stability, the rule of law and fundamental interests of people of all
ethnic groups in Tibet," he said, adding the situation had calmed down
in Lhasa, and stability had returned.
"What confused me and made me indignant was that the Dalai clique
and some Westerners labeled the destructive rampage of the rioters as
'peaceful protests,' but called our actions to deal with the brutal
acts committed by the rioters as 'repressing peaceful protests,' said
Qiangba Puncog. "I think that just confuses black with white."
He believed no democratic country would tolerate the brutality
carried out by the rioters in Lhasa on Friday.
=================================================
IV China Exclusive: The rioters are senseless, overseas tourists in
Lhasa say
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/17/content_7809057.htm
? LHASA, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Overseas tourists who are staying in
Lhasa on Monday after the unrest said the rioters were senseless, and
several said that they had to cut short their travel plans.
A man from Sweden who only gave his name as Janne said the
situation is safe now, but recalled that the rioters who embarked on
brutal sabotage seemed senseless.
"It happened suddenly. People started to smash glass windows, burn
cars and shops, and they became more aggressive," Janne said. He was
eating at a Chinese restaurant on the east Beijing Road when the riot
occurred.
The Swede, in his 40s, has been on a cycling trip in southwest
China's Tibet Autonomous Region for the last four months, and was
staying at the Phuncor Khasan International Youth Hotel. "When I got
back to the hotel, my hostel manager told me I should not go out any
more," he said.
Recalling the night of chaos, Janne said the rioters were carrying
knives, iron bars and backpacks full of rock. "They was definitely
well-organized."
He said he remembered seeing people chased and badly hurt by mobs.
"It was senseless."
"Most of the people engaged in the arson were young men and
women," he said.
He said he also saw a Canadian-looking man who tried to block
punches from the mobs on one of the victims. The mobs then retreated
and the man escorted the victim to the backyard.
He said he didn't see any fights between police and the rioters
that day. "I saw some of the re****ts, but the descriptions don't
correspond with what I saw," he said.
Asked about his travel plans, he said he would stay on for a
couple of weeks before heading to Xinjiang, in China's northwest. "I
think the city situation is stable now, now people are shopping in
supermarkets. I'm relieved the riot is over," he said.
An American tourist who was at the Yak Hotel on Monday recalled
that "monks were throwing stones, and that didn't make sense at all."
The man, who declined to be named, said he was staying in the
Snowland Hotel, a foreign-funded establishment not far from where the
worst part of the unrest took place, but he was "later asked by local
police to check out and move to another hotel which was considered
safer".
"I think the situation is under control now," he said, adding that
the government should continue to keep police on the streets to ensure
safety and open more markets.
Doje Cezhug, the mayor of Lhasa, the regional capital, told Xinhua
on Monday that conditions in the city are returning to normal.
As of Monday, traffic on the main Lhasa streets has resumed.
Government bodies, businesses, schools, and major farm produce markets
are operating normally.
The city gradually recovers, and several tourists who spoke to
Xinhua on Monday said they had to cut short their travel plan due to
the commotion.
Four Hong Kong tourists, who were at the same hotel with Janne on
Monday and preferred not to be named, said they were flying out on
Tuesday. A Japanese tourist who gave his name as Oguma Kenichi told
Xinhua that he was also planning to leave.
Ju Jianhua, director with the region's foreign affairs office,
said local civil aviation, railway and highway departments would
provide convenience for the foreign travelers who want to leave the
city.
The office has suspended issuing travel permits to foreigners
following the violence, citing safety concerns.
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