The Chinese Shame of Olympic Saga Continues -- Monks again disrupt a
press tour in western China
Monks again disrupt a press tour in western China
By Jim Yardley and Jake Hooker
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
BEIJING: China suffered another unexpected public relations setback on
Wednesday when Buddhist monks interrupted a government-managed media
tour in western China by waving a Tibetan flag and protesting that the
authorities were depriving them of their human rights.
The incident in the city of Xiahe in Gansu Province marked the second
time that monks have upstaged government efforts to control foreign
media tours of Tibetan areas. Last month, several monks in Lhasa, the
Tibetan capital, risked official punishment when they made an emotional
appeal to foreign journalists inside the Jokhang Monastery.
The outburst on Wednesday came as authorities guided re****ters through
the Labrang Monastery. The tour marked the first officially approved
visit to Xiahe by foreign re****ters since monks and other Tibetans in
the city clashed with the police last month. During the tour, about 15
monks rushed out, waving a Tibetan flag, and approached a group of about
20 Chinese and foreign re****ters.
"The Dalai Lama has to come back to Tibet," one monk said, according to
Reuters, which was invited on the tour. "We are not asking for Tibetan
independence, we are just asking for human rights. We have no human
rights now."
Several monks draped their heads in robes, Reuters re****ted, possibly as
an attempt to conceal their identities and avoid later punishment. They
also said that local authorities were holding other monks and that
armed, plainclothes security officers were posted around the city.
The protest in Xiahe came as Tibet continues to pose a domestic
political crisis and international public relations disaster for China.
This week, angry anti-China protests disrupted the international Olympic
torch relay in London and Paris, while San Francisco prepared for a
major confrontation on Wednesday during the only leg of the tour in the
United States.
International leaders, including President George W. Bush, have called
on China's leaders to meet with the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual
leader, and begin a dialogue on resolving the Tibetan situation. On
Wednesday, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia used a speech at
Peking University in Beijing to raise human rights concerns about Tibet.
But, as yet, China has shown few signs of softening its tough
accusations against the Dalai Lama and continues to blame a "Dalai
clique" for the riots and protests that erupted on March 14 in Lhasa.
This week, state media disputed a list of Tibetan victims released by
the Tibetan government-in-exile in India, saying that many of the names
could not be substantiated.
China's state media are also filled with re****ts defending China's
policies toward Tibet, even as many Tibetans and analysts partly trace
the roots of last month's violence to failed government policies.
The press tour of Xiahe was organized by Beijing authorities, who
invited only selected media organizations. The government used the same
invitation-only strategy during the Lhasa tour, overruling objections
from uninvited news organizations in the name of security concerns. The
New York Times sought to be included in both tours but was not invited.
In Beijing on Wednesday, Champa Phuntsok, chairman of the Tibet
Autonomous Region government, continued the campaign against the Dalai
Lama, accusing him of telling "lies to instigate antagonism between
various ethnic groups and to cheat the international community." At a
news conference, Champa Phuntsok also said that the protests in London
and Paris proved that the Dalai Lama was not sincere in achieving
reconciliation with the Chinese government.
"I believe Tibetans are a good, simple people who know how to be
grateful," he said. Champa Phuntsok, himself Tibetan, said seeing images
of overseas Tibetan protesters made him ashamed.
Champa Phuntsok told re****ters that the monks who protested to foreign
re****ters last month in Lhasa would not be punished - despite assertions
by monks that the government is doing just that.
"We simply do not punish or execute monks for telling a different
version," he said. "Of course, their version is untrue."
Meanwhile, Chinese Public Security officials announced that security
would be increased for the domestic ****tion of the torch relay, which
begins May 4 and continues until Aug. 8, when the flame is scheduled to
arrive in Beijing for the Olympic Games opening ceremony. The Ministry
of Public Security issued a notice on its Web site calling on all local
police departments to "guarantee" security work in order to assure a
smooth procession of the torch through China, according to state media
re****ts.
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